It was the day before this last Valentine’s Day. And it was to be our last. “You’ve battled well. It’s been a long journey,” her oncologist said, “but we’ve reached the end.” I suppose we’d expected – one day – to hear those words. But not that day. And not any day, anytime soon. But now […]
Letter: Upon Returning Home
It was a generic birthday card for my wife mailed to our home. As I returned from the mailbox, sorting through the bills and advertisements, there it was. The balloons and flowers and best wishes for a “Happy Birthday!” emblazoned on the envelope brought me pause, and I stood for a moment at the gate. […]
Letter: Two School District Budget Workshops, Only One Attendee
A quarter of a billion dollars ($230,000,000+) is the proposed 2023/2024 budget of the Clover Park School District. In the first two Community Budget Workshops offered by the District, for the purpose of soliciting input from the community on the budget, a total of one community resident attended in person. Now a third workshop will be offered on May 24, […]
Letter: The Promise
Whether she brought them home herself from her visit to Holland with her sisters, or had the tulip bulbs shipped, I don’t remember. But every spring when they burst forth in their beautiful display of color and texture, the tulips are a reminder of the promise. Even the droplets left by the rain, and maybe […]
Letter: We Had This Moment
“How does a moment last forever?” is the title of the original song – and the question raised – by Alan Menken and Tim Rice for Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast.” “Minutes turn to hours, days to years then gone, But when all else has been forgotten, Still our song lives on.” How to keep the […]
Letter: When the Party is Over
When the party is over, he goes home and, on his threshold, he remembers his loss, and enters again into the shadow of his sorrow that darkens his path. “Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful,” reads the proverb. In this mortal life, joy and sorrow are strangely intermingled. There is no rose without a […]
Letter: Fenced In By Loss
‘Fenced in’ by loss. A Sudden Halt to Business as Usual. Life as it was will never be the same. But there is a journey that still lies ahead. For once – and again, and again – we can see a future, a reason yet for being, a renewed purpose for living, we are set […]
Letter: Kind of Like Heaven
Kind of like Heaven I suppose is a bulb brought home from Holland, planted, nurtured, and excitedly watched growing and growing until the time on this glorious day there she is, complete, resplendent, whole.
Letter: Much Is Happening in May in Tillicum
So much is happening this month of May in your community of Tillicum! The Tillicum Woodbrook Neighborhood Association will gather Monday, May 1, 6:30 p.m. at the Tillicum Community Center, 14916 Washington Ave. SW., and there you’ll meet your Lil’ Crushers tball team that the neighborhood sponsors! This coming Friday, you are invited to attend […]
Letter: The Paperclip And My Wife
On my desk is a house shaped paperclip holder. When I need one, I turn it upside down and shake. A magnet in the chimney keeps those lengths-of-wire-bent-into-flat-loops-used-to-hold-papers-together from spilling out. The paperclip reminds me of my wife. April 22 would have been her 75th birthday. Every year on that very day the One Year […]
Letter: One Month Ago, Tomorrow
I am told that when you lose someone so precious as your life-long traveling companion, the calendar changes. It is certainly true for me. The day of the week, the exact hour of the day, my last words, her last breath, have become my new reference for everything that matters. Sunday, March 19, four-forty in […]
Letter: The Only One for Me
There were occasions in ancient history – and in mythology – when a beautiful daughter of a prominent leader was given in marriage to the one whose youthful courage and bravery and valor were demonstrated in some heroic deed, like the taking of a city in battle, or the defeating of a giant, like Goliath […]