Category: The Valley
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Our God is For Us
December 1. December 1. That was the date playing over and over in my head. I’ll take a pregnancy test on December 1. My period was several weeks late, but I was no stranger to disappointment in the pregnancy test realm, so I really didn’t want to rush the process. Joe and I…
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Some Questions for Mom
(Couldn’t pass up an opportunity to indulge some National Poetry Month shenanigans. I bring to you: an epistolary poem) 🙂 Mom, I looked into the cabinets of my classroom yesterday. I found craft supplies you put in totes and shipped my way. Glitter glue, crayons and stickers stacked on the…
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Now
The recap is over. Tracing back over journal entries and digging deep into the recesses of my memory has brought us to now, where I’m no longer recounting days past but reporting on the present. I’m not sure which is scarier. In some ways, I was able to pick out…
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November 2
I’m not ready to write about this one yet. Not really, anyway. Recapping this journey from August 8 to November 2 has felt almost like a self-enforced mandate — I don’t want to let myself forget a single thing. But in the same way, the writing has brough space to…
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October 31
[Disclaimer: my apologies to those who receive this one twice 🙂 I accidentally clicked send instead of schedule.] Apparently in hospice care, there’s a day known as the rally day. It’s also commonly called the last good day. Mom had had an abundance of good days — far outliving the…
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Fall Break
Another fall break had come and gone. While driving west on 32, I noticed the most resplendent displays of golden-orange foliage that fell like confetti in the autumn breeze. It led me to reflect on last year’s fall break, when Joe and I ventured south to Brown County, Indiana. Our trip was…
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Home
I love the quote by JC Ryle that says “friendship halves our sorrows and doubles our joys.” During a time when it felt like our sorrows were quadrupling, God surrounded us with the most incredible friends, family, church family, and community to walk with us in the valley. One of…
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Wedding #1 (Part 2)
Normally in those days, Mom would enjoy a deep and restful slumber, but as soon as someone would begin talking to her or holding her hand, she’d slowly wake up. Things were different on that Sunday afternoon. The clock was ticking, the guests were in place. People were stirring all…
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Wedding #1 (Part 1)
For a long time, I would reflect on my season of engagement and remember the stress. There was sweetness, of course. But also constant list-making, errand-running, and the hectic non-stopness that comes with leaving and cleaving — finalizing details, applying for jobs, graduating college, finding an apartment, and stepping into…
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September 30
The word “trigger” is a bit of a buzzword among Gen Z-ers like myself, but triggers have become a harrowing reality of our walk through the valley. So many sights, sounds, and songs from that season now serve as brutal flashbacks that can bring me to tears in an instant.…
House on the Rock 