In my search for an online volunteer opportunity, I came across 7 cups. I read their presentation – 7 Cups is a website that provides online therapy and free support to people experiencing emotional distress by connecting them with trained listeners. The words appealed to me right away, so I joined 7 Cups five years […]

When writing becomes difficult and the struggle to find the right word or idea or a story makes me want to give up, I compare myself to a long-distance walker I once knew. I did not know her very well, or for any length of time, so, I will not use her name, not only […]

The morning after closing day, the quiet wakes me up. Startled, I look at the clock. It is six and ten minutes. It is past my usual wake-up time. Then I remember that we closed the motel the day before and dig deep back under the covers.  The regular hum of the cars on the […]

Is the lone red leaf on a soft mat of green that I detected this morning a sign of fall? “One swallow does not a summer make,” (Aristotle), a voice inside me resists. One red leaf does not herald a season, just like one flake of snow is not a sign of a coming storm. […]

“Do you remember?” I look at my husband. We’re sitting in the living room watching our favorite TV show. “Do you remember where we met for the first time?” I can detect that look in his eyes. The one that only recently appeared. It masks, I know from my own experience, a certain sense of […]

I open my eyes, I am wide awake, it is dark. I look at the clock on my night table; its red numbers glow in the dark. 2:13 a.m. The house is quiet. Way too early, way too early. The words circle in my head. The night just started and it stretches in front of […]