I sat at my writing desk early this morning, the house quiet, my favorite time of day, and as I reached for my new favorite coffee cup, decorated with butterflies and flowers, I noticed the shape of the handle – a heart, but only half a heart. From the adjoining room, the family room, the […]
Letter: First Day of Summer…and Thoughts of Christmas
Half-way through the year, and the temperature around here significantly climbing on this first day of summer, it’s a rather odd time to be thinking about Christmas. Except that we could sure use some peace on earth; peace in our own heart; peace in our relationships. All of which – peacefulness – is often associated […]
Letter: For the Love of Life
He used to stop by occasionally, now and then. Sometimes I’d see him here and there. One time he spread his arms wide and asked ‘how do I look?’ “Great!” I responded. “Where you going?” “Oh, nowhere I guess,” he answered. Life can be like that. All dressed up and nowhere to go. It was […]
Letter: The Two Little Pigs
The Adventures of Nee-Pie and Che-Pie, Chapter Two By Cheryl Calvert, with David Anderson “Awwww! What cute little pigs! Are these yours? Are you raising them? Do they have names?” My friend Nee-Pie, or Annette as the rest of the world knew her but who would forever be known fondly as Nee-Pie to me, and […]
Letter: The Raccoon, the Rabbits, and The Ridge
By Cheryl Calvert, with David Anderson “They’re gonna tell us ‘no’ until we’re 30!” I was trying to allay the fears of my best bud Annette that climbing The Ridge as two 14-year-old girls over our parents’ likely objections – should we even ask – was not risky. Mostly not risky. “The rattlesnakes will let […]
Letter: A Long Walk in the Wrong Direction
Trails were posted “hazardous and route-finding skills required.” It was supposed to have been a paved path trail up the mountain aways. Early summer flowers would be sprinkled across the meadows, birds would be singing, butterflies would be flitting about. Nope. None of the above. Everything above was snowed in. The better part of valor […]
Letter: Touching Noses, One Last Kiss, One Last Time
By Cheryl Calvert, with David Anderson “Your mother is not going to recover. Not this time.” I stood outside her hospital room as the doctor confirmed my worst fears. We had had our last conversation. I would not hear my mom’s sweet voice again. Her bright eyes would not recognize my face, her so sweet […]
Letter: On Becoming a Princess – Eat Your Peas
At three years old she hated peas. Especially a side-dish of just peas and only peas while the rest of dinner was being prepared. As if somehow peas placed alone on a separate plate should be therefore prized? By a three year old? Nope. No matter what her mother said or did she wouldn’t eat […]
Letter: Pair Up – in Rowing, In Loving, In Life
I needed a distraction to block out the anguish as I rowed that early morning on the ergometer, an instrument invented I think for torture, certainly, the cause of a great deal of lung-excruciating pain. As I strained against the machine, gasping for breath, sucking air, mouth gaping, legs burning, I saw her. Though the […]