Latest posts
-
What the Water Gave Me
“You can’t cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.” —Rabindranath Tagore Justine and I have been swimming a lot lately. It’s been so uncomfortably hot this summer and my good friend Sandy, who lives nearby, lets us use her pool whenever we ask. This is the same pool that I spent…
-
A Legacy of Love at the Two Year Mark
School starts tomorrow. Maki and I are ready. Not so sure about the little one who, for the past few weeks, covers her ears and shouts “I don’t want to hear it” anytime I mention the word school. That said, it was probably the best summer we have had as a family. Maki stayed in California…
-
The Kids Are (Still) Alright
“As a child of God, I am greater than anything that can happen to me.” —A. P. J. Abdul Kalam We’ve entered the sacred month of August, round three. The first year, of course, was that wild season of hospice, when we folded our entire beings into saying goodbye over 14 days instead of the…
-
An International Reunion
Maki has very special visitors at the moment. 11 of them to be exact…his mum and stepdad and his little brother and sister from New Zealand and aunts, uncles, cousins, and his grandmother from Norway—every single person he is related to on his mother’s side. It seems that southern California is as convenient as it…
-
BBC Interview/Amatic Font
While I was visiting England in late April, I was invited to interview with a friend at BBC Radio 5. (This is a different BBC interview than the one I shared last year…which is still online here, by the way!) I’m grateful to have had so many chances to talk about him in his home…
-
Eight is Great
My beloved daughter is turning eight years old tomorrow. Anytime she has a birthday, I can’t help but count the years back to the night/morning of her birth and when I first met my baby in person. Last night, I was reflecting on this (its only fair as she’s been talking about her birthday every…
-
Inventory (4 years out)
Tonight is the eve of our fourth acci-versary. I wonder what it would be like to only have one big day a year to remind us of who and what was lost. But we have several. May 23rd is probably the biggest one because when I look back, I know that fateful Friday in 2014…
-
Back to the Beginning
I’ve always thought I’d do something more with our Sansoxyen story, but haven’t had the head/heart to go back to compile it into something new. I have a long flight in a few days though, so I thought I’d start cutting and pasting the early entries into files I can read/edit on the airplane. In…
-
Sad Songs
I was listening to my favorite podcast the other day, and the comments of a guest neuroscientist struck me: “It’s counter-intuitive that sad music makes you feel better when you distract yourself with it.When you are feeling unhappy and depressed, you feel misunderstood, and the last thing you want is to listen to some rousing,…
-
The Garage
“The space in which we live should be for the person we are becoming now, not for the person we were in the past.” ― Marie Kondō Moving the bikes out of the garage was a start, but there is still more to do in order to create the space I need for a clear mind…