Dear daughter,
The leaves are falling fast here the past couple of weeks, as the trees in our backyard prepare for a different season. I wonder if the colors are changing for you in the Midwest. You’ve talked of heading to a pumpkin patch with friends this weekend, and I’m jealous. I feel as if we’ve been robbed of the beauty of fall in the Northwest this year with the freak September snow storm and rainy, windy October days. Continue reading “A letter to my college kid”
“One benefit of summer was that each day we had more light to read by.”
– Jeanette Walls, The Glass Castle: A Memoir
Between the resuming of jobs, back-to-school activities, and two family birthdays in September, summer break seems to be a distant memory. It was time well-spent with family, as well as days engrossed in memoirs and middle school literature, historical fiction and religious texts. I didn’t set out to read books along one particular idea this past season, but it seemed as if an overarching theme tied them together: understanding. Continue reading “What’s Saving My Life This Summer [Part 2]”
This month I received an incredibly special gift, a quilt created by my 14-year-old daughter. I knew it was coming as Rachel and I picked out the fabric together, giving careful attention to color, style and texture. She provided me with weekly updates–from cutting to stitching to tying–during her school quilting class. There was literal blood (being stabbed by needles), sweat (meeting a deadline right before spring break ended) and tears (cutting fabric the wrong size) involved in the process.
When I was presented with this gift, Rachel was quick to point out that the end product was not perfect. But knowing the steps she went through to get it to this state made it even more meaningful. Continue reading “A purposeful patchwork”
words that bind 