COMMENTARY: Bring back the “peace” sign?

I was walking near a wooded grove the other day, ignoring the sunshine and the autumn leaves falling gently around me, my forehead wrinkled as I contemplated the tumultuous state of the world, when a man drove by in a pristinely preserved antique car.   I imagined how delighted he must have felt inside his old-fashioned automobile on such a perfect day. Smiling and inspired to wave, …

SHORT STORY: The woman who couldn’t stay in her body

Samantha Harrison never meant to leave her body. She hadn’t even realized it had happened until she opened her eyes one night and noticed she was floating near the ceiling of her bedroom, just close enough to see the dust on top of the blades of the overhead fan, where she also spotted a tiny …

Commentary: The unexpected blessings of motherhood

I was surprised by motherhood. I never expected it to turn out quite the way it did. After I gave birth to my first son, I remember being stunned when I realized that I was going to be responsible for this little human for a very long time. It had never occurred to me before …

Commentary: Keeping Christmas all through the year

We had a Christmas tradition when my sons were little that used to make me crazy. It was a holiday custom my husband brought into our lives from his family, where Santa always delivered the family Christmas tree. Apparently, along with all the other gifts Santa Claus had to deliver all around the world, the …

Here’s to those who raise superheroes

They were there when the bombs went off at the Boston Marathon. They were in the movie theater when that guy dressed like the Joker broke through the darkness and began shooting at the audience. They were there when a mad man burst into an elementary school and began killing kindergartners. Certainly they were there …

Gifted again by the sea

I passed along a copy of “Gifts from the Sea,” to a friend of mine the other day. A few weeks ago we had been at the funeral of a beautiful and dear young man who had taken his own life and as we grieved, we wondered about how his mother, or any mother, could …

How I found my singing voice

When I told my husband I was taking singing lessons, he looked at me with eyebrows raised. “Really?” You know the tone. He didn’t mean it in the way of happy astonishment. He meant it more as sarcastic wonderment. This from a man who has joined me singing along to many a classic hit during …