Love Means Showing Up
Things have felt fragile to me lately. This includes, but is not limited to, our democracy, the mental health of our nation’s youth and young adults, climate change, friends’ marriages, family members’ health, manufacturing supply chains and, because of where I live, UGA’s chances for remaining undefeated this football season. Most things feel tenuous to
Last October, I sent out a Bat-Signal, asking for help. I was in a stuck place emotionally where I could only see the things that were broken. Some of my kids were having a hard time, the election was looming and life felt heavy. I knew I had so much to be thankful for, but
I learn so much from my friends who have kids older than mine, which is to say that I have very patient friends who answer my million questions about parenting. A few years ago, I asked a friend how she kept her older kids talking to her instead of shutting her out. “The loud, scary
I feel two emotions when I watch my son in plays or musicals and the curtain goes up at the start of the production. The first is nervousness for the cast and crew; the second is relief that the show is finally happening. The next few hours will be a surprise: I often have no
When I was about to graduate from seminary, I had one of the most vivid nightmares of my life. It still haunts me. In the dream, I’d agreed to fight Mike Tyson. When I showed up at the venue, I was freaking out because I didn’t have any boxing gloves. My family was trying to
Sunday morning, for the first time since the pandemic began, I went to an indoor worship service, with real people and live music. We wore masks, but we were invited to sing hymns. It was glorious. I felt nurtured and strengthened and grateful. I know better than to expect this every Sunday. When my kids
My husband and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary with a quick trip to Charleston, SC last week. As we were checking into the hotel, the man helping us with our bags asked us, “Well, what’s the secret to staying married for 25 years?” Bryan and I shrugged and laughed because who knows? Certainly not
I recently saw a post online from a parent of a high school senior that said, “They’ve had so much taken away from them. They deserve a prom.” Right away, I was conflicted. Young adults in high school and college have indeed had so many important life events canceled. Missing out on these milestones and
There’s a great cartoon series by Emily Flake in The New Yorker about emerging from the pandemic and revealing our new, weirder selves to one another. She says, “In the grim cocoon of quarantine, I’ve metamorphosed into…someone else..or something else. Like a toad, but without the cool amphibian powers.” She tries to figure out how
As a fan of Deshaun Watson and as a feminist, I don’t know what to think about the allegations against him. My daughter Katie is a huge Deshaun Watson fan. While I have no idea who the quarterback was when I was a student at Clemson and don’t know who currently holds that position, Deshaun