We have a cat. Her name is Minnie, and we’ve had her for fourteen years– longer than we’ve been parents, longer than we’ve lived in North Carolina, almost as long as we’ve been married. She is a Very Sweet Cat. I think rescued animals are often sweet, because they are, by and large, grateful. Minnie […]
Read moreHere’s a favorite photo: Emma Grace with her Oji-San, my dad, just after she has helped him peel potatoes. I think they both look so pleased. Don’t you think they look pleased? Emma Grace is wearing the vest my mother crocheted for her in the car during their drive to our house. She made me […]
Read moreEmma Grace turned six on February 16th. Six. I remember turning six. We were living in Japan at the time, in our little American compound somewhere on the Japan Sea, and because there were so few children in the neighborhood, all the children in the neighborhood were invited, regardless of their age.I remember that my […]
Read moreWe were riding in the car, and Emma Grace asked me to pass the magazine back to her. It was a business magazine, but it had an image on the cover that intrigued her. “It’s an angel and a devil, Mommy,” she said to me. I could understand the angel part. In fact, I had […]
Read moreIt began in December. The week of exams, maybe the week before. Whichever week it was, it was a week that was Already Loaded, such that I came home from school at the end of each day Weary To My Bones, only to have all the jobs of homemaker and mother waiting for my attention. […]
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