Of all the flowers in the world, daffodils mean spring to me. Their proud stems concealing conical petals are some of the first to poke through the frigid ground after a long hibernation. When the weather still carries a chilly edge, when the sun shines but doesn’t yet warm completely, daffodils serve up an effervescent…
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We’re in a brittle time of year. The air is so cold it could crack. Drudgery is taking root. We’re stiffening. Oh, February, you can be hard on the heart. But every now and again, the sun pokes through the clouds, piercing and bright. There’s hope in that fleeting warmth. It’s like nature is…
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It’s the 745th day of January. This month is never-ending. It’s both too frigid and too fiery. It’s biting. It’s cranky. And we’re feeling it all. I don’t have to list the reasons why. We know why. We’re all living this year’s difficult, and in some ways, heartbreaking, start. On top of that, each of…
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The holiday season is waning. Another year is drawing to a close. And, if you’re anything like me, you’re still eating Christmas cookies. Perhaps you too felt memories’ indelible handprint upon your center as you went through familiar paces these last few weeks—the cooking, the baking, the minting of fresh moments. Maybe emotions rose up,…
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I love the afterglow of a good Thanksgiving, when thoughts of a scrumptious meal and decadent desserts linger on the palate…when you still feel the embrace of loved ones long after you’ve flown home. Memories sparkle brightly this time of year. Thanksgiving has always been laden with memories for me. I think of my mom…
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Everyone has a season where remembrance weighs heavily. For me, it’s autumn. Autumn is the time of year when my beloved mother, my grandmother, and our sweet pup passed away. While they might not physically be with me anymore, they’re also not gone—their indelible hand and paw prints are everywhere in my life. But even…
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This is a post about grief. And apples. Autumn is a time of weighty remembrance. Last year, memories coupled with fresh heartbreak bulldozed me. I remained flat and listless for an unimaginably long time. The year prior, grief played entire symphonies for days and weeks. For months. Now, tender recollections pluck grief’s strings—the song is…
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Blowing the cobwebs off this blog after, well, quite a bit of time. Years. Like everyone else, so much has happened. We’ve all endured more than we ever thought possible–chances are, we’re still dealing with the aftermath of something. There was so much, right? But the wonder of this thing called life is what happens…
Read MoreIt starts with a story, as it always does. We all have them, the narratives that we carry within us. But sometimes the yarns of those stories fray, precious beads are lost and everything is irrevocably changed. Which might not seem like the most natural segue to Hamilton, but hear me out…that would be enough.…
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Maybe it’s because of the time of year, but I’ve been thinking a lot about when I was a kid and my mom would pack up the station wagon for a trip down to the farm. It was only a few hours away by car, but this place in southern Ohio where my grandmother grew…
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