I can’t remember who said it first: “Everybody needs a moving buddy.” (This sounds like something I would’ve blurted, especially after a glass or two of wine. And I’ve always loved the movie Toy Story, so.) You know the scene, right? Andy’s family is packing up and Woody warns everyone about moving buddies. “If you […]
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The 100-Year Story
These past few months have been pretty crazy around here. Some high-highs and some low-lows. Milestones and heartbreak. (I’m not gonna lie. There’s still a lump in my throat and I get teary-eyed thinking about November.) Anyway. I’ve missed my kids ever since they moved to Oregon, but I never needed them home like I […]
A Christmas Poem (back by popular-ish demand)
‘Twas two weeks before Christmas, 2018, And every Gardner was here on the scene. Karly and Jack had both flown home from college, With luggage and laundry and (probably) knowledge! Karly’s picked anthro as her likely major; Criminal justice is her goal, I wager. Jack’s in his third year and bio’s his path. (This […]
Love and Marriage
I’ll never forget my friend Nadine’s wedding. It was springtime in the Bay Area and the sky was drizzly all day, but the moment she and Darryl took their vows, the sun came out (I swear). It felt like a miracle even though I didn’t believe in that kind of thing. At the reception they […]
For My Daughter On Her Birthday
On July 14th, 1999, you made me complete. A nurse slipped you into my arms (all four pounds, fourteen ounces of sticky skin and soft bone), and I looked down at your tiny face and knew you for my own. These trembling hands were cradling the first great-granddaughter; the first niece; the first sister of […]
For My Grandparents on Their 76th Wedding Anniversary
As of today, June 27th, 2018, my grandparents have been married for 76 years. 76. YEARS. While that number sinks in, I’ll share a story about the day the two of them met. He introduced himself as Andy and she told him she was Ann. I like to picture their laughter when they realized that […]
More Flagrante, Less Delicto
Like many of you fine people, I appreciate a good dose of irony. In literature. In life. In Alanis Morissette lyrics. (Hey. Let’s not get nit-picky.) Still, there’s something a little bit ironic I can’t support when it comes to parenting. And that irony is this: The very act responsible for creating a baby becomes […]
What Happens in Writing Group Stays in Writing Group Except When it Doesn’t
*Below is my response to a ten-minute writing exercise from our February meeting. The prompt: Describe “That Moment.” My friend Charlene shared hers first. She inspired me to share mine, too. — We were at brunch, just the three of us, a special treat, for sure. I probably had an omelet with a bagel and cream […]
Mother Knows Best
In my earliest memories, she wears a long blue robe and smells like coffee. My dad offers goodbye kisses to her, my little sister and me. Then he goes to work. He’s a high school Spanish teacher. My mother’s work is us. She is young, in her early twenties, ironing clothes in our den. Love, […]
The Graduate
My insides are humming. The low-grade buzz of bewilderment mixed with nerves and how did we get here? In my head, a gaping space. Hollowness. I don’t remember. So I freeze like a statue in the kitchen while the bread toasts. Memories present themselves for inspection. Slowly at first. Then, all at once, these details […]