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August 2026

August 21, 2026

Yes, Postpartum Mental Illness is Real

I just want to say that postpartum depression is real. All kinds of...

May 2025

May 14, 2025

A Recollection at Dusk

As the sun was getting low, I went out to inspect the garden. Charlie the...

February 2025

February 16, 2025

But The Water Knows Me

The names of the twins were Sammiel and Gabbiel. Sammy and Gabby, for short....

January 2025

January 19, 2025

The Only Place

I drove out to the overlook at Fernwood State Forest, not feeling too well....

October 2024

October 23, 2024

A Cat Named Disaster

Someone left the lid off the sandbox again. The Artful Dodger has at least...

May 2024

May 24, 2024

On a Strawberry Afternoon

I figured out how to make strawberry jam. I planted those five little strawberry...

February 2024

February 22, 2024

In the Late Morning

I didn't wake up to the sound of my phone that morning. I was...

January 2024

January 12, 2024

Red Sky at Morning

It was morning, but it didn't look like it yet. Adrienne woke me, asking for...

November 2023

November 09, 2023

A November Truce

After Sunday, the severe fatigue settled into ordinary exhaustion. Fatigue is different from exhaustion. Fatigue...

October 2023

October 29, 2023

The Child and the Chicken

There was a chicken wandering the block. The first people to see her were...

October 23, 2023

When Grief Gives Way to Peace

October Saturdays are soccer days. Adrienne is doing well at school and on her soccer...

August 2023

August 11, 2023

Cinderella, Dressed in Yella

We were playing outside. This happened a long time ago, when we'd just moved...

June 2023

June 25, 2023

While Mothering, While Swimming, While Praying

I may never get used to having a cynical adolescent in exchange for the...

August 2022

August 18, 2022

In the Family of Things

I went to the garden to pick peppers. Something yellow and black flitted out...

August 14, 2022

The Day Your Child Comes Out

On Twitter, the formerly Catholic talking head Joseph Sciambra had something to say about parenting....

July 2022

July 29, 2022

The Woman on the Wall

I woke up to the purring of a black cat who was climbing on...

January 2022

January 06, 2022

“Do They Take Girls Who Are Sterile?”

There was a girl at our church who had cancer. I don't know why...

November 2021

November 06, 2021

The Beginning of Wisdom is the End of Fear

Last week was Halloween. As anyone familiar with my work knows by now, my...

October 2021

October 25, 2021

There Are So Many Different Fears

There are so many different kinds of fear. I have felt so many fears...

October 15, 2021

And Now We Are Mothers

It started when a neighbor messaged me late at night. She said that...

March 2021

March 25, 2021

On Birds and Bees, Gila Monsters and Chastity

I gave Rosie the talk about the birds and the bees. This happened a bit...

December 2020

December 30, 2020

A Witness to Life

I am writing a narrative. No, not that kind of narrative. Not the kind people...

December 04, 2020

For God So Loved the Formless Waste

Rosie and I went downtown, to bring a space heater to the Friendship Room, and...

September 2020

September 20, 2020

On a Bright Day

It was a bright day today. It was marvelously sunny, for the first time...

April 2020

April 28, 2020

Dandelions are the Poor Man’s Marigolds

I went to the free pantry again, with half a bag of things. We go...

November 2019

November 09, 2019

A Late Autumn Shopping Expedition

I have no idea how to be a mother. Maybe nobody does. In my case,...

August 2019

August 29, 2019

I Will Always be a Recovering Addict

(This post is part four in a series on addiction written by my courageous...

June 2019

June 20, 2019

Where Love and Loving-kindness Are

I was downtown again, with an hour to kill. Rosie was at her martial arts...

May 2019

May 11, 2019

If You’re Going to Preach a Homily On Mother’s Day…

I have a message to any priests out there, or any clerics at all...

September 2018

September 22, 2018

And Autumn Began

My daughter, Rose, was delivered by emergency Caesarian, on the first day of Autumn, over...