On Resilience

On Secrets

Every family has its secrets–uncomfortable remnants of the past or matters of the heart too raw to reveal. But what if you discovered a family secret so powerful that the truth challenged your very identity?

Eggs and Inspired Living

Appreciate the whimsy of youth. Because once we were young and swapped food and friends and pleasures as unpredictably as a sneeze. Isn’t it so much harder to change our minds as we age?

And She Rides

The other morning my daughter Rebecca announces that she’d like to ride her bike to photography camp –- alone. We strike a deal that I’ll accompany her in the morning, letting her lead the way, but that yes, she can ride home on her own. She’s twelve now, and has a cell phone…just in case.

What Happened to May?

May pulled me by the collar like a cyclone. All month I spun from event to event–birthdays, mother’s day, school plays, school picnics, school fundraisers, school conferences, school projects, cycling events, and so forth. Beyond “planning” and “showing up,” there were annual medical appointments to be made, camp forms to be completed, a sputtering washing machine to fight, and the ongoing drill of stocking the fridge and freezer, and preparing family meals.

What Now?

Some time ago I stumbled upon an unforgettable commencement speech by Ann Patchett. It was a speech she gave to Sarah Lawrence College, her alma mater, in May of 2006, titled, “What Now?” Today it’s a book.

In Defense of My Interfaith Marriage by Magin LaSov Gregg

My friend Magin, a very talented writer with crystalline insights, wrote this essay for Patheos.com and I’d like to give her some additional ink for such a well-conceived piece.

Life Lessons and the Courage to Begin Again

What a thrill to share my story for “Life Lessons Radio.”

Give and Take

I mourned a writer friend today who died of kidney failure. Twice Robyn was given kidneys, first by her father, when she was only thirteen. That kidney lasted twenty-two years — time that allowed her to finish high school, graduate from Colorado College, ride like the wind on her beloved horses, and adopt a stable of cats and border collies.