The one plant I’ve had for almost 20 years. It’s a prayer plant, and no matter how extreme my neglect, I can’t seem to kill it. Its leaves fold up at night, and it begs God for one more day to live. The second plant was purchased when I started teaching two years ago, because…
The talk around the hospital was about angles. Physical therapy said my mother-in-law was doing great. They were hoping for 120 degrees of motion in her knee yesterday, and she got to 100. After PT, I had to massage the Charlie horse out of her calf, because her leg had gone through quite a stretch….
He hadn’t taken three sips out of his large cup of coffee when he dropped it on the floor in the emergency waiting room. The coffee saturated the carpet while his expletives filled the room. A few hours later I was escorted back, to be with my mother-in-law. She was supposed to be admitted for…
I’m tempted to give you my husband’s cell phone number, so you can verify that I am not lying when I tell you that every morning and night of my first year of teaching I said, and I quote, “I cannot do this.” Yesterday, after I covered the computer monitor with an old, pink pillowcase…
“Give me the keys!” he said in a rush. “Why?” I asked. “Caleb left his tassels at home,” he said. This was an hour and a half before graduation, and there was no way we were lettin’ that kid cross the stage without his magna cum laude tassel. (See how I slipped in that bold-faced…
That boy of mine graduates in three days, and my mother will be here in 13 hours. The sheets on her bed are still dirty, and I haven’t dusted yet, although she promises she doesn’t care what my house looks like. You know how it is, though? So if you’ll allow me to pull up…
Last year we used Christmas money and invested in two kayaks. We could see our last little bird (with very big feet and a penchant for bow ties) flying out of the nest soon, and those two kayaks were our declaration that we would continue to enjoy each other when the nest became quiet. Today…
There is a window in the door of my classroom, and I’m going to have you look through it to watch my class over this last month. We have been doing one thing. Verb conjugations. Day after day after day the same thing, in preparation for their final exam. First the students had to be…
My first car didn’t have power steering. It was a ’67 Chevy, with bench seats and an 8-track player, from which I played Barry Manilow at full volume. I was a young girl, and he wrote songs, of love and special things, that made me cry. You didn’t try to eat a soft-serve cone while…
Yesterday I thought my brain or my heart might explode. One or the other or possibly both simultaneously. It’s when you have your baby about to graduate. At the same time you sit in a courtroom to watch your friends officially adopt their 4-year-old foster son. At the same time your job changes a bit…
We decided it was just too dangerous, this owning of a motorcycle, so he donned his helmet for the last time. We were taking the bike to a friend’s shop where he could sell it for us. I knew generally where the shop was but not exactly, so I followed closely behind Matt and watched…
He was an elderly Black man, and we always inwardly celebrated when it was his turn to lead the congregation of Miller Heights Baptist Church in corporate prayer. We called him Brother Charlie. Dear Lord, he prayed. Thank you for shakin’ my feeble body and wakin’ me up this mornin’. With Texas accent added to…
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