On Taking Space (Inner and Outer) In her poem, “Fire,” poet Judy Brown reminds us that fuel is not the only thing a fire needs; a fire also burns because of space between the logs. Space enables fire in the same way that space rekindles attraction between longtime partners. Space also revives us when we rest between tasks. And space allows our grown children to develop their own lives. I don’t know about you, but
It Started With a Coffin In the late nineties when the book and movie of The Garden of Good and Evil were all the rage, my husband and I traveled to Savannah to see the locations in the book. We stayed in a Bed and Breakfast on one of Savannah’s famous squares. As bed and breakfasts tend to be, this one was decorated in antiques, unusual collector’s items, and all manner of frou frou. Our
The Power of Late Bloomers The attempts to disempower an American woman unfold across her lifetime. She is sexualized as a young girl, loses her reproductive freedom as a young woman, takes on the “Second Shift” as a mother, and becomes invisible after menopause. Rendering women over fifty invisible is insidious because in reality age liberates us. Not only do we live longer than men, our healthspan is longer as well. Our energy is liberated
Living The Dream All my life, I dreamed of literary success. I wanted to write and publish a blockbuster novel and enjoy the life of the successful author. The universe had other plans, so I set the dream aside and applied myself to earning a paycheck. While rearing my son, climbing a career ladder, and working my way through three marriages, a singular fantasy sustained me. It looked something like this: a phone call, a
Welcome to Amsterdam In the early years of raising my son who has cerebral palsy, I subscribed to a magazine for parents of children with disabilities. The magazine was full of information about dealing with schools and physicians, and the tone was resolutely upbeat. One particular article stands out in my memory, four decades later. Can’t find it but here is the gist: Imagine you’re on your way to a vacation in Paris. You’re excited.
Proscriptions based on gender are illusory — that’s what I learned from women bronc riders This spring, my historical novel, Sunny Gale, was published by Pronghorn Press. Sunny Gale is a fictionalization of the era of women’s professional rodeo from roughly 1895 to the early 1930’s. My own journey to this era and back expanded my notion of womanhood way beyond what I would have imagined possible as I turn sixty-nine. I grew up on
