There’s this Roy Clark song, “Thank God and Greyhound You’re Gone.” Right? That’s kinda how I feel about my kids. Now wait. Hold the phone. Context is everything. When The New York Times Magazine runs a front page story featuring a young, attractive, college grad sitting at Mommy and Daddy’s dining room table with a bowl of Kix and a caption over her head which reads: “one in five young adults still lives with their parents” this becomes cause for celebration in the … [Read more...]
What Are You Willing to Risk?
June 20, 2014 By
A friend of mine turned 64 this week, said he played the Beatles “Birthday” song in celebration. Cranked it. Probably danced with his baby girl on his hip. He’s a new daddy. Yep, 64 with a six-month-old daughter, his first child. Life is full and good, albeit not exactly what he’d planned, heading into retirement. Oh well. All of this abundance started with him taking a chance. He risked rejection, humiliation, even heartache, just to speak to the cute salesclerk at the … [Read more...]
The Reassurance We Crave
April 11, 2014 By
This is a story about bravery, bumper cars and baseball. Well, kind of. Even though he’s a diehard Dodgers fan, what with living in L.A. and growing up watching the Albuquerque Dukes groom players for the big show, my son Nate was wearing the St. Louis Cardinals hat I got him for Christmas when he took me to the airport last week. I cried when I hugged him goodbye. Every time I leave a kid at the airport, I swear I won’t cry. Always do. Such is the reality for the … [Read more...]
Three Little Words
March 31, 2014 By
He had no idea the maelstrom of emotion that would blow in behind one short, declarative sentence. On a day when I was supposed to get a make over at the Clinique counter, with a particular interest in the “Dark Circle Corrector” and a new, natural look, which for me is code for “get out of the 80s”, but I cancelled due to too many competing demands for my squeezed-into-two-precious-days life now, I went to the gym instead. The gym was just one entry on my unrealistic … [Read more...]
Make Peace With Your Momma
December 30, 2013 By
Discovering the cache of Kodak slides in the basement could have made me feel bad or guilty or filled with regret. Instead, I laughed. I threw back my head and laughed out loud, like l-a-u-g-h-i-n-g out loud, spelled out. Then I said to no one except the cobwebs, “Okay, Mom. You’re in.” I had noticed the honey-colored wooden box on my cluttered work bench, amongst the rusty channel locks, duct tape and socket wrenches, laying where they were dropped by careless kids … [Read more...]
Twenty Seven
July 22, 2013 By
Taillights like domino dots, only red. The anticipation of what a summer night could yield as palpable as the humidity at the intersection of then and now, where I idle. At least there’s a breeze. Windows down, the heat backed off enough to coax me out of my air-conditioned, sensory deprivation pod, arm dangling out the window, hand air surfing, dipping and diving, ribbons of warmth weave through my fingers like batter. Moist. Night. Air. Motown streams from the … [Read more...]
They Work Hard for Their Money
February 2, 2013 By
So the blog's been neglected, as if you've been pining way for witicisms from Jean, right? It's because I've been a workin' fool lately. Good thing, as the wolves, in the form of not only one, but two goons with missing teeth have, of late, been knocking at my door. I won't go into detail, but I ain't lying. While I continue to do book talks (shout out to Kenn Ann Smith and Victoria Babu for hosting this month!) and I've been seen out on street corners selling books … [Read more...]
What Writers Dream Of
September 30, 2012 By
Friday was a bittersweet day. The arrival of the first box of books, like real, live books, y'all, was due at my publisher's office any minute. She told me she'd call the minute the shipment arrived. I tried not to think about it. I tried to remain focused on the pressing matters at hand, finalizing the last few tweaks on a video project for a corporate client: prison nurses -- the irony is just too rich sometimes. Of course the other thing that really had me … [Read more...]
Reader Comments