Category: Stories
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Maybe love is the answer to everything that hurts

When I was three, I had a nightmare. I was shopping with my mom in a department store, as we often did when I was little. We were walking toward the perfume counter when she stepped onto a grate that was built into the floor. I was terrified of those drainage grates—they looked like trap…
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Straddling the In-Between

I often imagine a world where one human sits in front of another human, openly sharing the grief, the pain, the loneliness and the experience of what it is to be beautifully messy. It includes uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure. What would we call this? I crave a name. Brené Brown calls it vulnerability. If…
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Two Sides of the Quilt

When I think about the time of pregnancy-birth-postpartum I have two sides of the quilt. The front, a beautiful patchwork of colors and layers, the side that is carefully planned and organized, and the back, the side I don’t often show. However, the back of the quilt is the part that holds the entire thing…
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Full Hands

I remember the emotional ups and downs of being isolated in the Arctic with three little ones—newborn twins and a toddler—and a husband who had a hard time dealing with crying babies (actually any crying). He took off to do work at his office in the evenings to get away, then complained about his difficulty…
