A week ago today, I was awakened at 6 AM to strange guttural sounds. At first, I thought it was coming from outside, then my dog downstairs, and as I leapt out of bed, I knew instantly it was my beloved cat. There, on the closet floor, just under the hanging clothes, my cat of 15 years lay on his side as he struggled to breathe. I got down next to him, gently caressing his head, saying, “I’m here.” My voice caught in my throat and I called to my husband, “Bill,” and the way I said it Bill knew. … [Read more...] about How to survive loss; the transformational power of art; and being fully present
Finding Your Authentic Voice
In 7th grade I couldn’t speak. Well, in my social studies class, that is. I can still remember raising my hand to answer a question posed by the teacher. My mouth was moving but no sound came out. If you’ve ever had a dream in which you’re trying to scream or run away from the monsters but your voice is constricted or your legs won’t work—that’s what it felt like for me. The “monsters" in this case turned out to be my classmates. I had accidentally been placed in the wrong level class. My … [Read more...] about Finding Your Authentic Voice
I Got To Know His Dance Moves in High School…Then They Went Viral
I first met Tim in high school when I was cast as Ado Annie and he was cast as Will Parker in the musical Oklahoma. It was the beginning of an amazing friendship, one that is still going strong 40 years later. Any occasion was a chance for Tim to perform, and when I’d come to pick him up at his house in those days, he was usually just out of the shower with a mop of wet blonde hair. As his captive audience, I’d sit on his bed as he wildly danced to some 80’s tune, hairbrush for a microphone, … [Read more...] about I Got To Know His Dance Moves in High School…Then They Went Viral
Choose Your Story, Change Your Life
I sit in one of the folding metal chairs that lines the perimeter of the gym. It’s Friday night dance class at Bryan Junior High in 1977. I’m wearing a skirt, pantyhose, and white gloves as per dance class dress code. Girls sit with one ankle behind the other and hands clasped together on laps. Boys wear shirts and ties and sit with both feet on the floor and palms faced down on each thigh. None of these formalities, however, will save me from the embarrassment of what’s to come. We all … [Read more...] about Choose Your Story, Change Your Life
Why There’s A Waitlist To Live In Our Basement
When my dad died at the end of 2019, my mom was thinking of selling her house in Elmhurst and moving to a condo nearby. She and Dad had lived there since 1972. It’s where I grew up and subsequently where our three children spent a good deal of their childhood visiting their grandparents. Even before Dad was gone, with coffee mugs in our hands, we used to gather around mom and dad’s dining room table and imagine how fun it would be to build a family compound together. My sister Cat was planning … [Read more...] about Why There’s A Waitlist To Live In Our Basement