Amelia has already staked her claim on a bedroom in her new house. We watched as the foundation was poured and the walls went up. The doors and windows stand ready in the garage, waiting to be installed. Giant metallic limbs spiral down from the attic like an overgrown octopus held back by a net …
Invitation
“What color invitation do you want, Yolly?” asked Amelia from her side of the table. “I like yellow best,” I replied. “We don’t have any yellow ones,” she parried. I’ve come to expect this answer from Amelia when we’re pretending. She’s much like me when her train of thought leaves the station, it’s already heading …
Hellbent on Destruction
“Tell me what you know about Daniel and the lions,” Amelia prompted in her best Ms. Sheila voice as she held up Ezra’s story Bible for me to see. As soon as she joined Thomas for monthly Little Learners classes at the zoo, Amelia quickly adopted the teacher role when she is pretending. She was …
Signs of Life
Four hundred pounds of grass seed lay dormant beneath the cracked red clay. Rain was just what it needed to germinate. A haze of green now blankets the field and I inhale deeply, releasing a prayer of gratitude with every glimpse. I am beyond grateful for the rain that soaked into the ground as I …
Where Was He?
Before I leave to pick up Amelia and Ezra a couple of mornings a week while their mom goes to the gym, I have learned to close my bedroom doors and latch the baby gate at the bottom of the stairs. Little Ezra is quick and he is quiet. Once he’s inside, he usually goes …
Don’t You Care?
“How is it Tuesday already?” I wondered, not for the first time. I am keenly aware that we all share the same twenty-four hour days rotating around the sun but some days and weeks, some seasons just feel different. Sometimes time seems to stand still and then it flies warp speed ahead. When sharing a …
Immediately
Thomas hurriedly ate his dinner and began what my daddy calls “chomping at the bit” before my husband had filled his plate or tasted his first bite. He’d been waiting all afternoon for Poppy to get home to take him fishing. Now he half paced, half bounded around the kitchen table, before announcing, “All right, …
I Look Like Jesus
Golf ran into dinner time which collided with bedtime. If you have toddlers in your life, you know those acid hours can turn ugly in a skinny minute. No amount of consoling or cajoling can interrupt the meltdown once it starts and forget sleep coming easily afterwards. My son messaged his wife saying he had …
Floundering
There’s no mahi in the freezer, I realized as I made my way though the kitchen, searching the staples for what I’d make for dinner. There are a few things I try not to let run out completely because I can offer a meal that nearly anyone will enjoy on short notice. Mahi is my …
Time To Be Tested
My morning was planned around two scheduled grocery pick ups. Many of the retailers who transitioned to pick up during pandemic half a decade ago have continued to offer this option. I first used it during my cancer treatments but have continued because of the convenience. Also I am an inefficient shopper. I go too …
A Fitting Reply 