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Charis: First Three Chapters

Jun 2, 2012 by admin

SUNDAY NIGHT Great deeds are usually wrought at great risks. —HERODOTUS CHAPTER 1 A BLACKER BLACK, A WARMER WARM HAD MR. WARD BEEN PAYING closer attention when he walked into Storage Room 19, he might have noticed that the warm was just a little bit warmer and the black was just a little bit blacker than usual. That he didn’t notice those small yet horribly significant details was unusual. The exactly matched blue of his tie, belt, and his shoes and socks betrayed his love for details, details, details; a talent that served him well as museum curator. It was his appreciation for the particulars that brought him to the storage room in the first place. He couldn’t understand how he had missed such an obvious mistake on the inventory sheet, and for such...

The Ghost of Christmas Past

Apr 17, 2012 by admin

I just had the most painful memory. I was reading Firefly Lane and a passage referenced some dolls called “Liddle Kiddles.” I began thinking of the many barbies and dolls I had as a little girl and my thoughts came to rest on the Sunshine Family. And then my tears started to flow. It was Christmas time and I must have been around seven years old. There was only one thing that I wanted for Christmas that year and that was the Sunshine Family dolls. They were the fun, hippy, anti-Barbies that radiated all things flower child, nature, and love. They were also everywhere in the commercials, and my friends and I strategized over how to optimize our chances of getting the dolls. I did my part in working on my parents through good...

Firsts

Feb 4, 2012 by admin

While we were sunning and funning in Cancun, my sweet mother-in-love was mourning the loss of her furry companion of ten years, Amos. Amos was an 8-poundish yorkie terrier who sort of weaseled his way into all of our lives. Barbara bought Amos home and the first night we met him as a family he sized us up as much as we did him. Only around 4 pounds then, he rebuffed every overture we made toward him by barking as loud as his quarter-sized lungs could manage and sticking as close to underneath to Barbara as he could. Over the years and through many antics though, Amos was as much a part of our family as anyone else walking on two legs and sharing the same DNA. I often teased Marc by calling Amos...

A Birthday Wish

Feb 3, 2012 by admin

I’ve had the pleasure of spending the past several days beneath the sunny skies of Cancun. I’ve enjoyed the beach and the breeze with three of my favorite people, my husband, obviously, included. He and I have woken early each morning, to catch the first breezes of the day and walk the shore. We call those moments, whether on vacation or back at home in Seattle, our “walk / talks”. I like . . . no, I LOVE our walk/talks. As our thoughts turn from those we love to situations that concern or challenge us to our dreams and hopes for our futures, our time – step by step – becomes a moving meditation, prayer in motion. Yesterday, my birthday eve, Marc and I walked Cancun’s shoreline, enjoying the expansive and picturesque view. We...