Last week, my son Hayden was traveling a congested stretch of road in downtown Orlando known for its propensity to accidents and fender benders. To make matters worse, weather conditions were poor when the vehicle two cars ahead of my son was cut off by another car. Everyone slammed on their brakes, and my son’s…
The conversation around our outdoor table continued late into the evening, well past the time someone had quietly cleared the dinner dishes. As I watched the lightning bugs blinking in the trees surrounding our patio, I remembered long-ago summers when my dinner companions were smaller versions of the lovely young women they’ve become. As I…
It’s fall. My baby is headed back to school for her last year of college. Neither one of us can believe this ride is almost over. She has loved her four years, and she knew from the first time she set foot on the campus of Greenville College (now Greenville University) that she would love…
“I love her shoes,” I whispered to my husband. We were enjoying a rare kid-free lunch date, and the woman at the table next to us was dressed to impress. “Well, tell her!” he said. “Yeah, right.” I rolled my eyes. As if I could ever just say something like that to a stranger. I…
Several years ago, my family sat around the dining room table reminiscing, and someone asked me what my worst vacation memory was. “Oh, boy,” I replied. “It’s a doozy.” And, indeed, it is. I was in elementary school, and the trip was to a cavern somewhere. I was excited to see it. We had to…
“Where is home?” As an army spouse, this is one of the questions I’m most often asked. It’s a complicated query. I moved a lot as a young child, and I mostly grew up in Idaho. I was living in Washington, D.C. when I married my husband, who quickly whisked me away to North Carolina….