by Julie Donner Andersen
There exists in my neighborhood a gaggle of women who, on the outside, appear as normal as you and I. They lovingly raise children, cook dinners, and support their husbands. They tend to perfectly manicured lawns and rose-covered gardens while wearing strings of pearls and aprons. […]
by Valerie Gillies
September: it was the most beautiful of words, he’d always felt, evoking orange-flowers, swallows, and regret.” Alexander Theroux
Just as I get into the swing of the warmth and long days, reduced to-do list, and sanctioned laziness, the beginning of school looms on the horizon. As much as I think I never want the sultry days of August to end, I start to look forward to the change. It’s not only because I can’t wait to pawn the children off on unsuspecting, captive teachers—really! No, there’s something about the quality of the light in the morning, a feeling in the air of expectancy and starting over, and a bittersweet letting go that I adore. New books, pencils, clothes and shoes. Shopping for things that are kept safely in anticipation of that first, nervous day; the re-setting of life to a familiar, but slightly altered agenda. […]
by Denise Mooney
On a recent family vacation, I had the unfortunate experience of being asked the inevitable question. To my chagrin, it happened a decade or two sooner than I had expected. Drum roll please. “Is that your grand-daughter?” What?! Are you kidding me?! […]
By Karen Hug-Nagy
OK, wranglers, we are just under three weeks until school begins. I know you don’t think you’ve had enough time off, but HEAR THIS, get your #2 pencils sharpened and your backpacks loaded up, because it’s time to return to the halls of knowledge!! […]
by Peg O'Neill
I recently had to do something that is a difficult thing for most doctors, especially pediatricians: I attended the wake of one of my patients. While the death of a child is almost always premature, this was a particularly heart-wrenching story, of a healthy, happy ten year old boy, who died as a result of a tragic drowning accident, the details of which I still don’t know, but what I do know is that he was not wearing a life preserver. Perhaps, on that gorgeous, horrible summer day, if the current of the river on which he was tubing had been just a little gentler, or if the wind had been blowing on a slightly altered path, or if something else had been different, maybe he would be here today, playing baseball, cracking jokes, spending time outside in the neighborhood with his friends, as ten year old boys tend to do in our town when the weather is good. And while no one will ever know whether he would have been ultimately OK if he had been wearing a life preserver, this lingering question will likely forever haunt his family, and the rest of us: if only he had been wearing one, would he still be here? […]
by Karen Hug-Nagy
Well, I’m ten years into this midlife mothering experience, and at 55, I’m still learning how to become a Mom. I begged the fertility gods for one child and I hit the jackpot, twins! I thought the infertility rollercoaster was complicated. Parenting two is more like trying to keep up with mini-rockets on a mission. […]
by Julie Donner Andersen
My mom was a clown. Literally. At least she started out that way. She and her partner, Beverly, had an act called “Bobo and Dodo.” They entertained at children’s parties and marched in parades. A few years later, they became rag dolls called “Patches & Pockets” and were offered a TV show at WTOL-TV in Toledo, Ohio. Their show ran for 18 years in northwest Ohio and parts of Indiana and Michigan, and even won a local Emmy Award. […]
by Andrea Lynn
It finally happened. Claire, 3, got the daddy question. As in, “Why don’t you have a daddy?” Though, to be completely accurate, the 4-year-old friend who was over for a playdate phrased it less aggressively, as: “I have a mommy and a daddy.” Pause. Wait for response. I was in the kitchen with my daughter and her curious friend, who we know quite well. Without appearing interested in their conversation, I was waiting for Claire’s response as well. And it was a good one. “I have a mommy,” she said, quite simply. The friend tried again. “I have both. You don’t have a daddy.” Claire thought about this. “I have a sister,” she replied. Score! A perfect response. I was so proud. […]
by Leah Hardy
Almost ten years ago, I wrote a rather smug article for a glossy magazine extolling the virtues of late motherhood. At the age of 38 I’d just had my first child, and I waxed lyrical about how I felt it was the perfect age to embark upon motherhood. […]
by Valerie Gillies
“No one ever told me that grief felt so much like fear.” C.S. Lewis
Last week, on a day when I paid my bills, went to the dentist, and did exactly 4 loads of laundry, I got a phone call that let me know a close relative had advanced ovarian cancer. I slept fitfully that night, woke to a beautiful day, made some strawberry rhubarb jam, met with clients, did paperwork, ran errands, and somewhere in the flurry of the day and evening a text came through on my phone. One of my daughter’s classmates, an endearing 9 year old with a huge smile–aneurism, stroke, coma. This morning, she was gone. […]
