At regular intervals throughout his 26-year military career, my husband has been promoted to the next rank. Each time this happens, there is a little ceremony, during which my husband gives a brief speech. After two decades of being married to a Navy man, I have that speech pretty much memorized. “Captain So-and-so, thank…
Book Review
Spring Break, Eighties Style
“Don’t crush the groceries!” I yelled as my teenage son smashed the car top carrier lid closed. With everything for our family spring break trip packed, we piled into our salt-hazed minivan and hit the road. I wondered if all this rigmarole was worth it for a few days of so-called vacation. I’d worked myself…
Kiss me! I’m Irish today!
St. Patrick’s Day is one of those ambiguous special occasions that can be quite confusing for non-Irish adults like me. As a kid, the purpose of St. Patrick’s Day seemed clear to me: wear something green to school and get my mom to take me to McDonalds for one of my all time favorite…
How to Succeed in Parenting by Really Trying
Although I don’t talk much about it any more, my husband and I raised a child with what has become known as “special needs.” When I gave birth to him in April of 1995, there was no indication that he was anything other than a healthy nine-pound baby boy. But three years later, a developmental…
What I believe about Hell and hand baskets