Digging for the Light Manuscript & Excerpts

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What can we do when we are buried alive with grief and suffering? Dig for the Light. The author’s deepest, darkest living hell began: Seven years after her first child died unexpectedly; six years after the first miscarriage; three-and-a-half years after the second miscarriage; thirteen months after a psychiatric hospitalization for severe depression; six weeks before her third living child … Read More

Happy on a Hillside

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Happy Happens on a Hillside       On one of our recent errands, my son pointed out this smiling hillside.     Someone had mowed it into a long sweeping hillside, one that looks like the perfect winter sledding track. Do you see it, the mouth running along the gate? The one eye just above it? It was such … Read More

Great Balls of Fun!

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Happy happens in the pharmacy I was rushing through the drugstore when this tower caught my eye. I had an image of children tossing and catching these giant bouncy balls on a beach. And a smile crossed my face. In my usual rush, I hurried past and on out to the car, where I paused. Those balls gave me a moment of … Read More

Every Day a New Story Begins, Part I, Sudden Death

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“Every day a new story does begin, doesn’t it?” The shop owner said as he rung up my purchase. “Sometimes it doesn’t even take a day,” I replied. “Every second a new story begins.” I learned this lesson twenty-two years ago. In the labor and delivery room. When I saw the fleeting look of panic in the nurse’s eyes. When … Read More

Waves of Bliss

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We spent last week in a blissful state by the shore. Gentle breezes, mid-to-upper-80s, family, friends, seafood, surf… All play and no work makes Jill a happy girl. We all need a day (or two or seven) now and again to recharge our bodies, our lust for life, our creativity… The time away was one of the few vacations where … Read More

My Daughter’s Boyfriend Has a Controlling Family

Annah Elizabeth2 Comments

My daughter is involved in a controlling relationship with her boyfriend’s family. And sometimes it really bothers me. Like now. Like when they secretly met with her during our family vacation. Yeah. Honestly, though, it’s not quite as surreptitious as that makes it sound, but it’s bad enough. In the winter we told our daughter she could bring a friend … Read More

Thankfully, Life Isn’t Static

Annah Elizabeth1 Comment

Across the road from where I sit, the street light flickers on and off, as it has been since our arrival three days ago. “Dumbledore’s there,” I joked, “watching over us.” I am at the beach. On vacation. With family and some close friends. On Thursday, my friend and I treated ourselves to manicures and pedicures before beginning the process … Read More

Talking About Sex, Teens, Bedrooms (and Raising Sexual Beings)

Annah Elizabeth2 Comments

My college kid’s girlfriend recently came to visit. “That’s fine,” I said, “We’d love to meet her.” “But there’s one stipulation: You can’t share a bedroom.” Now, I’m not naïve. I know many young adults have sex, and these two will soon be twenty-one. Hey, I was once young myself. But I have two teenagers still at home. And one … Read More

Daisy Days

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A pond in the middle of the woods. Lilly pads and flowers in full bloom. Crickets and croaking frogs. Wind rustling the leaves. Family and fishing poles. Exclamations of joy. Togetherness. Laughter. 

Grateful on June 21, 2012

Annah ElizabethLeave a Comment

Today, as I navigate the tail end of this Hamster-Wheel month, these are a few things for which I am grateful… Grateful for my children’s sense of humor and their willingness to help out… Grateful for the safe travels of my family who are in town for a visit… Grateful for a husband who isn’t afraid to do a little … Read More