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Teaching Us To Number Our Days Aright

“There are no good choices.” I remember saying that to my mother three years ago when we hit the first major decision point in what would become a long sequence of no-win decisions. My father had fallen again, crossing undeniably over the threshold to dependence.…
mm
May 15, 2015
artsmemoir

Filling Out the Questionnaire at the Dance Studio

Congratulations on starting dance lessons! Dance students gain many benefits through becoming better dancers. In order to assist your specialist teacher in personalizing your foundation and future programs, please let us know the five most important benefits you wish to receive through your dance lessons,…
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February 6, 2015
memoirMichigannature

Snow Day

Six-thirty a.m. Dark. No sound save the wind’s distant crescendos and calms. No traffic sounds. Slip out of bed to check the internet for closings: could it be? Oh, snow day! A peek outside: streetlamp light illuminates the snow, still blowing horizontally, at least eight…
mm
January 9, 2015
memoirspirituality

Mighty Deeds

“There’s a lot of down time between the mighty deeds of God.” I heard myself saying this to my friend Sharon over pancakes yesterday. We were talking about her church’s efforts to discern where God is taking them next. They were weathering some discouraging developments…
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September 20, 2014
memoirreview

The Big Book of What She Really Thinks

I have loved Roz Chast’s cartoons since one of my college friends introduced me back in the 1980s to Chast’s quietly twisted portrayals of ordinary neuroses and domestic absurdities. Chast specializes in boring people, living room couches, potted plants—yet somehow she cuts life on the…
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August 23, 2014
memoirspirituality

Small Things

Kindness may seem a weak virtue, hardly suited for battling the forces of darkness. For that battle, it’s true, one needs bigger artillery as well: courage, peacemaking, sacrifice, love, justice built into the architecture of larger systems. I do notice, however, that kindness is one…
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May 31, 2014
liturgical yearmemoirspirituality

Abide with Me

The year wanes in darkness, at least here in Michigan. Much snow and ice this year. It’s hard not to brood, especially after a year that brought so much sorrow and loss in my circle of acquaintance. A dear colleague, dying suddenly and too young…
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December 28, 2013
memoir

“Danger: You Could Die Here in Paradise”

I know that important things have been happening in the news this week, but I don’t care because: I’m in Hawaii. Been here for almost two weeks with my wonderful partner, Ron, celebrating 25 years of marriage. We are giving ourselves a much-needed and extravagant…
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June 29, 2013
memoirspirituality

Unfinished Business

I suppose I have simply gotten used to unfinished business. As more academic years slide past and pile up behind me, I have less a sense of closure in May than a sense of constant motion. Even this year, when two of my own children…
mm
May 18, 2013