real, raw motherhood
My friend had insisted so much, I finally agreed to drive an hour from my hometown and meet the American martial artist who was visiting Reunion Island for a week. I stepped out of the car and had my first glance of his 6 foot 1 frame. “Not bad” I thought to myself. Five minutes…
She’s turning seven in two days. My baby is now a full fledged little girl. Who likes make up, nail polish, pig tails and twirly dresses. Who speaks three languages and is eager to learn more. Who’s in first grade but scored an A+ on a second grade math test yesterday. Who practices leaps in…
When I was sick a few weeks ago, I started watching a Turkish TV series on Netflix, titled Çalıkuşu (pronounce Chalikushoo). It is based on a novel written in 1922 by Resat Nuri Guntekin and tells the complicated love story of Feride (played by Fahriye Evcen) and Kamran (played by Burak Özçivit) Each episode is…
“I see no better option than surgery“, the gastro-enterologist said as we reviewed my husband’s colonoscopy results. It’s been a year. A year since that appointment. A year since the first surgery. We flew to Los Angeles in October 2015 and one of us came back home without a colon. Just like that. So easy…
I want you to be happy. I want you to be happy now. I want you to be happy tomorrow. And more than anything, I want you to be happy when you’re all grown up. I love you. I love you as best I can. Someday, it will be time for someone else to love…
To the woman who is choosing to stay in a bad relationship, I have good news and I have bad news. The good news is: you deserve better. The bad news is: you don’t believe it. You’re waiting for him to change when you’re the one who needs changing. You need to become the kind…
It started 18 months ago. January 13th 2015, 2 days before my husband’s birthday. He was scheduled for his yearly colonoscopy. Ulcerative Colitis is a condition that he’d suffered from since he was a teenager but had remained nameless most of his life. With the right medications, everything was under control and had been for…
My sister’s boyfriend, Muller, was intent on introducing me to a martial artist who was visiting Reunion Island to teach a series of seminars. I looked at the flyer he handed me, unimpressed. “I don’t like guys with long hair”, I said when I saw the mullet the man in the photo sported. “He’s a…
“I, Sarah, take you, Burton, to be my lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.” The priest standing before us had such a thick Irish accent I had to fully concentrate as…
When I said “I do”I had the naive dreams, hopes and expectations of a girl who’d just left her teenage years behind. Never did it cross that girl’s mind that, one day, she’d see you throw up green vomit or that she would- gladly- wipe up poop sprays as you two would struggle together to…