Lessons

Sweet Child of Mine: Month Two

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Dear Scarlett, Every day you drink my breastmilk and your such a good eater. I want to look down and say: Augustus! Save some for later! But you keep on sucking and slurping it up. It’s this sweet, warm, magic substance that has everything you need to grow—you’d think the Oompa Loompa’s had a hand [...]

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Cleanse

The summer of 1997, when cell phones were still novel and farmers markets were still about farmers, I spent the summer in Boulder. My internship at Time Warner Telecom was in the DTC, but I didn’t mind. There were roommates to hook up with, real hippies to discover and new words to learn. Trustafarian was [...]

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The Hour I First Believed

In the early days of my pregnancy, I read Loving Frank, historical fiction which details the affair between architect Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Borthwick, a feminist at the turn of the century. It was magnificent. Everything I devour. A story with some truth. Real people from the past. Womanhood. Choices. Tragedy. Bits of my [...]

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Flashback: Six Months Back in America

We’ve been back for over four months now. Before we left, we met with Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and asked them questions about readjustment back in the States. One girl said: “I don’t see what the big deal is. Everything here is easy and convenient. It’s a life you’ve known for years.” Overall, she’s right. [...]

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My Dead Friends, by Marie Howe

I have begun, when I’m weary and can’t decide an answer to a bewildering question to ask my dead friends for their opinion and the answer is often immediate and clear. Should I take the job? Move to the city? Should I try to conceive a child in my middle age? They stand in unison [...]

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What I Know For Sure Today

When someone shows you who they are, believe them. (Oprah) Tell me slowly and I will understand quickly. (Eat, Pray, Love) We are all responsible for our own happiness. (My Mom) What you put into the universe ALWAYS comes back. (Maury, Abraham, Buddhism, Life) Don’t worry about changing the worlld. Just do something that makes [...]

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Triple-Hearted Monster

Writhing. It’s not a word that should be used lightly. It indicates pain and suffering. But that day I saw it.  I’m certain that the idea of “snorkeling”, in most beaches across the earth was started by some marketing genius to make tourists feel “active” after all the Coronas and lying around. So at least [...]

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The Science of Window Shopping

I noticed something when i was in London this past July. For years, when traveling, I’d always hoped to find a face I knew. An old advertising professor in the Frankfurt airport. A kindergarten classmate on the Spanish Steps. I’d think of something clever to say, we’d chat briefly and then part, both lost again [...]

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Kind vs. Nice

During Holy Week in Jerusalem, I was discussing the failures and successes of the Catholic church and my difficulty in finding a new church community with our friar-to-be friend Erik one day in the Petra Hostel lobby. “I just don’t have a lot in common with the people I find at a church,” I said. [...]

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For those who have the irrestistible urge to do every single thing. . .

Do you ever wonder if someday you’ll get to that point, you know. . .that one point, in life, when you’re so happy with that Cambodian silk patchwork bedspread you purchased on impulse, so pleased about how far you’ve come in your Portugese classes and how great last season’s tomatoes turned out, so confident in [...]

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