real, raw motherhood
We’ve been together more years than I had been alive when we first met. 25 years since I met my American star! A quarter of a century. Two and half decades. 300 months. By any time measuring standards, it’s been a while! I was 21 on that fateful June, 11th, 1997 and still 21 when…
My baby will be 10 in just a couple of weeks. 10 years old! A two-digit number! Since 18 is the legal adult age, we are now officially past the half way point of parenting our child. Judging by how fast the past 10 years have gone by, I can tell the next 8 will…
Warning! This essay might be upsetting, especially if you know me in real life. I wrote it because writing is how I process my emotions. I am sharing this here and hope it may help others who have suffered similarly. My mother liked to point to the big scar running down from her belly button…
Ask and you shall receive. This, I believe with all my heart. Call it God’s answers to prayers. Call it the Universe conspiring. Call it the power of affirmations. Call it the magic of visualization. Call it coincidence. Call it miracle. Call it whatever you want so long as you can embrace it and let…
We celebrated her 9th birthday last week. 9 years “old”. Half way to 18. It goes by so fast. Everyone says it because it’s true. But when you’re deep in the trenches of motherhood, and tired day in day out, it’s hard to stand back and get perspective. Then one day you realize the baby…
My husband’s father just passed away. He had been married 65 years. He had 4 children, 5 grandchildren and 1 great-grand child. What a great legacy! He would have been 84 next month and though it’s still sad, it’s a lot easier to say goodbye to someone who’s had a long productive life. Unfortunately death…
It’s been two years. I actually don’t remember many of the details now. I dropped him off and waited for the hospital to call me. When they did, about nine hours later, they informed me that the total colectomy procedure had gone well. When I saw my husband in the recovery ward, he was enjoying…
It’s close to midnight in Sydney, Australia, where we just spent two weeks. We’ve been flying towards Honolulu a good 6 hours now. Three more to go. Our daughter is sleeping on my lap. The keyboard is propped up on a blanket and a pillow. My phone (on which I write) rests against her inflatable…
I’m in Saint Leu, a small beach town on the west coast of Reunion island. My friends are treating us to a weekend in an oceanfront villa. The sun is shining. Palms trees sway in the gentle breeze, bright green against the cloudless sky. A sliver of white moon winks at me. A golden dragonfly…
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…