Last weekend our youngest daughter walked across the college graduation stage, and my husband and I stepped into the light at the end of a long tunnel. For over a quarter of a century, we have paid tuition, packed lunches, signed permission slips, coordinated moves, hosted sleepovers, matched socks, and navigated relationship dramas for our… Continue reading Lights and Tunnels

Last week was my annual gardening weekend—those few days each year that I spend strolling the outside aisles at Lowe’s and Home Depot, breathing in the earthy scents and plotting my summer blooms. And then I'm down on my knees and my bottom, scooching from one hole to the next, digging, fertilizing, planting, watering. I… Continue reading Joyful Dirt

Red and black bows in honor of the Covenant School accompany the regal purple cloths of Easter at churches around Nashville. Every year I eagerly await the advent of Spring: the budding trees, the ground’s greening, the earthy smell of tilled soil. Our world becomes lush, almost overnight, and the ubiquitous spring fever is a… Continue reading The Hypocrisy of Hosanna

Whoever said age is just a number has not yet turned 60. In many ways it’s the Mt. Everest of birthdays—the apex at which you can glimpse, behind you, the roads not traveled and, in front of you, the sloping unknown. Grassy meadows on both sides, with some crabgrass thrown in to keep us alert.… Continue reading Big Birthdays

Many people eagerly anticipate the Super Bowl because it’s the culmination of the football year. I look forward to it because it signals the beginning of the end of winter. This time of year, when overcast skies blanket brittle limbs, winter seems eternal—a never-ending cycle of bleakness regardless of what Punxsutawney Phil says. Around this… Continue reading Tiny Ducks and Super Bowls

In the elevators of my office building, there are always posters announcing various events or providing timely information. And then there is one poster that seems to speak directly to me. It captures my attention every time I ride up or down. In fact, as the posters rotate weekly, it’s become almost my compulsion to… Continue reading Soft Reminders

With all the beds full at my house this holiday season—which is the only gift a mother could really want—our home has been a whirlwind. Some of that activity has been remarkably not festive: Closets have been reorganized; Goodwill piles have grown. Yesterday, while vacuuming ceiling fans in a room that was forgotten, the power… Continue reading Rolling Blackouts

I spent Saturday morning searching through bins in the attic for a particular photograph. My memories of the day it was taken are so vivid. The leaves had started to fall on campus, and my college boyfriend, armed with his new Nikon camera, wanted me to be his model. Because it was the 1980s, my… Continue reading The Girl in the Picture

Reflecting on the death of Queen Elizabeth, the British-American author Andrew Sullivan wrote how “staggeringly rare [the Queen’s] level of self-restraint is today. Narcissism is everywhere. Every feeling we have is bound to be expressed. Self-revelation, transparency, authenticity — these are our values.” Reality TV comes to mind. Just because I can watch pimples being… Continue reading Her Majesty’s Remotes

People probably find my family odd for many reasons, not the least of which is that we name our cars. I felt a bit vindicated upon reading that 60 percent of Americans view a car as a member of their family, and just as many name them. When you consider how much time you spend… Continue reading The Chair