Dear Mom, No one warned me when I was pregnant—that I may be a mother…without my mother. It’s not anything I began to imagine amidst my growing belly, baby showers, and nesting a nursery. I was barely into motherhood when I lost you to your lung cancer. All those decades of smoking. You were diagnosed and gone in the length of a summer. Our last summer. At the time I had my toddler, Continue Reading
To Share or Not to Share?
Privacy and self-protection lead to isolation. Transparency and honesty lead to connection, community, and love. Yet, it is not so black and white when you find out your child is different, or disabled, or diagnosed with SOMETHING. Do you tell others or do you not? When Ryan was first diagnosed with PWS at 5 weeks old, our knee-jerk reaction was to keep it to ourselves. Maybe tell Continue Reading
The Night We Told Ryan He Has Prader-Willi Syndrome
When is it the right time? At what age? At what cognitive level? Will he even understand? Will it make him more anxious? (Because EVERYTHING does.) Will he just perseverate on it and talk about it over and over and over? Or will it bring relief—as in “oh, now I understand why I talk about food all the time…” It was a Friday night in November. Luke, our oldest, was celebrating Continue Reading
Expressing Motherhood Piece
This past weekend I had the privilege to be a part of the Expressing Motherhood--South Bay Showcase. Created by Lindsay Kavet and Jessica Cribbs in 2008, it's a stage show of writers, sharing or performing their pieces on motherhood. Any take is welcome. You will laugh, cry, be inspired, and be validated or encouraged as you listen to diverse stories that resonate somewhere within us all. I Continue Reading
I Love Myself, I Love Myself Not (Part 2) ~~ My Interview with Kristin Armstrong
I am accepting of myself. I am compassionate and respectful towards myself. I speak kindly to myself. I am present. These are the key facets of self-love, according to my friend and writer/blogger/speaker/runner, Kristin Armstrong. Imagine this for a moment she said: You intentionally put together a healthy, yummy lunch for yourself, in the quiet of your home. Flowers in Continue Reading
I Love Myself, I Love Myself Not (Part 1)
Do I? Do you? Say, "I love myself." Right now. See how it gives you the absolute willies? It's exceptionally uncomfortable to say that. Try looking in the mirror and saying that. Barf. It makes me think of the Stuart Smalley character from Saturday Night Live, and I just cannot take myself seriously. Cannot. What does it EVEN MEAN to love yourself? I give myself permission to take Continue Reading