We can picture courage like a mighty warrior, sword raised high. But I’ve found courage is often more like a scrappy kid with skinned knees and dirt under her fingernails who just won’t quit. None...
I’m wearing four layers of clothing: bra, shirt, puffy vest and coat as if I’ve armored myself against what’s to come. On a chilly morning I step into a clinic for my yearly mammogram. As expected,...
Of all the ways to make an entrance, no PR or Marketing firm would choose this one. Divine paradox. Blood and dirt. Animals and anonymity. No facebook or twitter or instagram. A hush slips through a...
I’m not an athletic sort of person. But I am married to one. And in an attempt to bond with my husband, I agreed to do a charity bike ride. I grew up in Texas, where the roads are smooth and the...
The average woman is born with two million eggs, a staggering number when you consider each one has the potential to become a human being with freckles and eyelashes, elbows and knee caps. A...
In a world where everyone seems to be connected, it seems ironic that studies show we’re more isolated than ever before. We all have moments when we feel alone and that sense of separateness can...
Despite my best intentions, I still eat vanilla ice cream right out of the carton. I sometimes wrestle anxiety like a wild alligator. I feel confused by social media and stressed out by the news....
I pull into a hospital parking lot on a cool fall morning. Leaves crunch beneath my feet as I walk to the entrance. I find “Intensive Care Waiting Room” on the directory, ride an elevator, and find...
I’m seated on a chair in the middle of the kitchen in my childhood home, a towel draped around my neck like a makeshift cape. My mom and grandmother read instructions from the back of a box. How...
My feet hit the pavement in a slow, steady rhythm. I am not fast. I am not graceful. But I like how stress rolls off me along with the sweat from my forehead, the way my favorite songs match the...