The moment my daughter was born, I remember being shocked — not by her miraculous birth (because it had been a ridiculously long and difficult labor and delivery — kind of a miracle I made it through) but because I knew in that very second that I would walk in front of a moving train…
Tag: motherhood
November Days of Gratitude: Pieces of Your Heart
They walk around the world In their torn jeans, wearing flip flops, ponytails and home-done manicures. Not children any longer, their days and dreams grow, take them farther from home. Still, though, a rapid-fire response, fierce protection of any slight, day or night — can trigger out from my spirit, like darts being thrown in…
A Photo a Day: When you don’t come back to the place you started from
Day #24 Toby and I took a walk last night. Felt like rain, but only because the wind had kicked up a bit. That’s not a good thing these days. A flammable California does not need wind. But it’s autumn and the evenings cool off — lately with brilliant sunsets, fiery and red. Our normal…
A Photo a Day: Playgrounds and heartstrings
DAY #6 Today is my youngest daughter’s 17th birthday and I miss my little girls. They just arent little anymore. One is in college and way too busy to call and the other is a HS senior, getting in all the lasts of everything she can before she heads off to school herself. This letting…
“Give me your worries, Child” Letting Go — and Grace
Give me your worries, Child Drop them, one by one, into my cupped hands. Name them, call them out for all the worry they’ve thrashed about in your tiny heart. Give me your worries, Child; Each one will rest in my care, Relax your heart from the wear and tear. I will hold each…
The promises we make to ourselves can be the hardest to keep. (Write Every Day 16)
That picture was taken years ago on a trip to the San Juan Islands. I’m holding my oldest who will now be entering her second year of college, and I love the way the reflection and the mirror seem to hang perfectly in the field. We’re looking forward and backward at the same time. I…
“Good Enough” Parenting
Truth is parenting is done on the fly . . . minute by minute and with no crystal ball. I hate that. I can’t tell you how many times I wanted someone to give me the right and perfect answer — to slip a perfectly folded note under my desk that would help me get…
Leaving for College: What they don’t tell you
Moms (and Dads), this is for you, as your child leaves for college . . . because someone’s got to tell you. I’ve read blogs and books about the days before your child launches off to college — and they’ve been really instructive. But. You know what they don’t warn you about? They don’t warn…
The Summer of ’16 is Sailing By
The other day, on a day trip to lovely Capitola, we watched a little electric boat being sailed by a quiet boy who stood at the water’s edge. We watched as he motored around, every now and then his boat catching a gentle breeze which took it in a different direction, one not of his…
First Impressions
Her howling cry belied how tiny she was in my arms. Swaddled tightly, Chloe, my newborn, kicked and screamed as if she were trying to escape and I was at a loss as to what to do next. I had nursed her, changed her, walked her around my small hospital room and spoke softly about…
Barbara Ganias Comstock 