Life
The Space In Between
For a time, years ago now, my husband and I took private lessons in Latin and ballroom dance. The studio, where we met with our teacher twice a week, attracted students with a range of interests—training for competitions, improving social dancing skills, or preparing for a single event. Our goals were less specific; we thought…
Read MoreWhere Story Begins: Finding Inspiration in Small, Unexpected Moments
The Moments Where Story Begins As waiting rooms go, this one on the tenth floor of Massachusetts General Hospital in downtown Boston is pleasant. There are tables and chairs, snacks and bottled water, even an espresso machine. I’ve helped myself to water and eaten a small bag of roasted edamame. Now I wait for my…
Read MoreWinter in Provence: A Season of Stillness
Winter: A Different Kind of Beauty in Provence Years ago and long before Tom and I had a home in France, we found ourselves in the hilltop, walled village of Gordes in the Vaucluse area of Provence. It was a summer day with a blue sky of such depth that it looked to be crafted…
Read MoreWhat Our Two Jack Russell Terriers Taught Me About Compassion and Joy
Gilbert and Annie, my husband Tom’s and my Jack Russell terriers, came into our lives as puppies. They were both strong-willed, energetic, and highly intelligent. I always thought that we negotiated with rather than trained them. This proved to be especially true of Annie, as she joined our family ten months after Gilbert’s arrival. Instead…
Read MoreMotherhood Is Another Country, One That I Will Never Know
“Do you have children?” is a question I’ve grown used to hearing whenever I meet someone for the first time. And yet after all these years, I still hesitate over my answer. A simple “no” never seems sufficient. I almost always add that Tom and I were not able to have children. This usually ends…
Read MoreFinding Refuge in Marriage: Turning a Painful Past into Lifetime Love
Redefining Refuge Refuge means different things depending on context. It can refer to shelter or protection from danger or distress, but it can also refer to a feeling of being seen and cherished, of belonging. Refuge may be found in places, in community, in relationships, in whatever nourishes the human spirit. I say sometimes that…
Read MoreTraveling the Familiar: Why Certain Places Feel Like Home
Can a Home Away be Familiar? In The Reader, a novel by Bernhard Schlink, the protagonist comments that he once believed he should be more adventurous in his travel, and so he explored countries and cities he might not have visited otherwise. Eventually, though, he recognized that he preferred to concentrate on the locales he…
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