ON RESILIENCE

Fragments of A Life

The title of this post is drawn from a chapter in my memoir.  At the time, the events I described were specific, yet now the idea of fragments seems to fit the whole of my life.

Sometimes Bit by Bit is Best

I completed my graduate thesis last week – a crowning achievement (and the reason for my online absence). Readers know that I’ll earn my MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Goucher College this summer. As it happens, my thesis is the entire draft of Both Sides Now, my memoir. Lucky me. I didn’t have to finish the book, but I needed to. I needed to prove to myself that I could write my story, line by line, page after page, part by part, until I had accomplished the following: getting it all down on paper, selecting the moments and shaping it so that the experience could be shared. In this way the written word allows others to reflect upon their own stories of loss and renewal.

STAY HUMBLE, POSITIVE, AND PROUD: Life Lessons from NBA COACH GEORGE KARL

Many of us are feeling the thaw of winter and the early heat of spring. It’s a glorious time of year, albeit a charged one. Growth spurts, spring cleaning, bikes that need maintenance, gardens that need pruning, multiple school projects, the season of birthdays. And for basketball fans…March Madness, NBA trades and the upcoming playoffs and finals. Can you feel the energy?

THE STORY OF CRAZY LEGS

It’s 3:58 a.m. and I wake in a startled state.

Did I forget the day? How could I let this slip?

I’m not thinking clearly at this ungodly hour so I begin to track back. He died in February, toward the end of the month. Last Tuesday was Valentine’s Day. I count the days that follow on my fingers until I land on today, February 20.

I am so relieved because I have not missed the day my first husband, Brett, died. It’s tomorrow, February 21, which is the eight-year anniversary.