It might have been the last day possible, in Montana terms, to get home and do a final leaf pick-up “before the snow flies,” as we say here. Everything outside has to happen before the snow flies, and then comes the six-month sabbatical from all outdoor chores that don’t involve a shovel or a snowblower or a roof rake. Roof… Read More
If You Feel Alone
On Friday night, my mother-in-law kindly picked me up and took me to the airport, where I flew out on a great weekend adventure to visit my writer friend, Lisa Jacobson, for her ___th birthday. (Not sure she would appreciate me inserting the number there.) But I have to tell you that ever since my dad went to be with… Read More
Have The Companionship You Crave
We put the last suitcase in the car, and I gave mom one more tight squeeze. Then we were pulling away from the curve, and I was waving goodbye at the corner just before we drove out of sight. There she was, standing alone on the sidewalk. “That is painful,” I said. “Yes. That is very painful,” Matt said. I… Read More
Am I in This Thing Alone?
She was old enough to sit up by herself but not mobile enough to move from that position, so when I came home from the grocery store I plopped her down on a blanket and put a few toys in front of her. Then I went to the car for the first load of groceries. I had to walk past… Read More
Loneliness Can Be a Long Ride
I hadn’t showered or brushed my teeth, and the kitchen was an explosion of Caleb’s culinary arts project from the night before, so I sat down and watched a two-hour documentary this morning with my husband. (Do you see the reasoning that went on there?) The cameras followed over a dozen men and one woman, as they raced on bicycles… Read More
Is It The Holidays But You Feel Dark on The Inside?
My guys left the house Wednesday afternoon wearing hunter’s orange and carrying three tags. But they only filled one tag, and it came home attached to an evergreen. So now we have a Christmas tree in our living room, cut from the backside of Blacktail Mountain. (I told them not to come home if it wasn’t the perfect tree. They… Read More
How to Escape Being Surrounded but Feeling Alone
I had a sleepover in my daughter’s dorm room last week, before helping her move out for the semester. I thought it was very brave of me to climb up on that high bunk bed. Jayme left for an evening study session for her last final, and I laid in bed for quite a while listening to all the sounds of the… Read More
Do You Know the Value of Loneliness?
Would you humor me with a trip back to the 80’s? Because there’s a song that has imprinted powerful words in my mind. The words are true. I know this because I’ve tried them out many times in my life. Please listen? Today is Valentine’s day, a cruel holiday that shouts, “YOU’RE ALONE!” to every widow, every single person, every… Read More
Someone Cares about Your Whole Day
I only have to yell, Dinner! My children’s father takes over from there. Sitting around the table after a long day of school and work, he looks first to our son and says, Tell me what happened in first period. We all laugh, because we know where this is going. It’s the same every day. We talk about first period… Read More