“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…
Military Life
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…
Skiing on Hot Air
“Do I ski? Well, of course,” I’ve dismissed such questions with a pretentious chuckle. “I grew up skiing,” I’d say, hoping my haughty response conjured up images of me slaloming between moguls, skidding to snow-spraying stops, and mingling in Nordic sweaters around cozy lodge fireplaces. They don’t need to know that my first skiing experiences…
What I believe about Hell and hand baskets