gratitude

Strange how hope swells…

  Strange how a lantern can appear out of nowhere. Walking barren tracks, and suddenly there's a light in your hand. Sincerely Danielle Shunk (SDS) plunked into my grasp like that. A friend knew a friend, who told her about SDS, who told me. I stepped foot in that magic space and before I knew…Read more Strange how hope swells…

The Power of a Single Flame (Part 2)

When she picked up that first dying man from the gutter, there was no possible way she could foresee the masses across the globe whose lives would be saved. She only knew the fire in her bones could be alleviated no other way. And so she started rescuing, one-by-one, the last and least of the…Read more The Power of a Single Flame (Part 2)

Benevolence at the Heart of the Universe

On a golden autumn afternoon with leaves falling like laughter, free and easy, trees salute purple mountains rising steady and unchanging through the seasons. Transcendence and solidity flow like crisp air. We crest the hill. My first-born drives, sunglasses perched with the innate jazz of youth and a poetic heart. He runs his fingers through his…Read more Benevolence at the Heart of the Universe

Last Catch (& Baseball’s Last Gift)

Just when we thought baseball bid its last good-bye to our player-son, it beckoned him back with a nomination for the Colorado Springs All-Star game. A couple weeks prior, we absorbed every minute of what we thought was his last game – savored his last hit, memorized the smack of the ball in his catcher’s glove,…Read more Last Catch (& Baseball’s Last Gift)

Reflections on my son’s last baseball game

When my first-born, ball-obsessed son, Jacob, was a sweet-faced seven-year old, we signed him up for the local Little League team. Practices were held at a neighborhood park, and my husband and I enjoyed hanging out on the side-lines with our three younger children and other families. We couldn’t have guessed at the time it was…Read more Reflections on my son’s last baseball game