I Do: The Project

Mudding over the Drywall Tape. Imagining Something Better It’s early on Saturday, the morning just stirring under its blanket of darkness. I’m writing at my desk, upstairs, when I hear it: The whining buzz of a power tool slices through the stillness.  I leave my keyboard and coffee, race downstairs, into the garage. “Rich! It’s […]


I Do: The Project

Mudding over the Drywall Tape. Imagining Something Better It’s early on Saturday, the morning just stirring under its blanket of darkness. I’m writing at my desk, upstairs, when I hear it: The whining buzz of a power tool slices through the stillness.  I leave my keyboard and coffee, race downstairs, into the garage. “Rich! It’s […]


Charmed into Joy

My Beautiful Granddaughter, Carly. October, 2011. Photo by Ryan Lagrand. The jeweler and I huddled over his velvet-lined tray, arranging and rearranging the seven charms. “Where did you get them?” he asked. “I’ve been collecting them for a few months. There’s a charm for each of my grandchildren. The baby’s name is Sawyer, so the saw […]


Charmed into Joy

My Beautiful Granddaughter, Carly. October, 2011. Photo by Ryan Lagrand. The jeweler and I huddled over his velvet-lined tray, arranging and rearranging the seven charms. “Where did you get them?” he asked. “I’ve been collecting them for a few months. There’s a charm for each of my grandchildren. The baby’s name is Sawyer, so the saw […]


Birthday Presence

Sawyer, Big Brother Cadence, Mommy Elaine. Balboa Naval Hospital, San Diego. November 11, 2010 The Next Best Thing to Being There During a Skype session with my daughter Elaine and her family, I asked Cadence, who had just turned five, if he had fun on his birthday. “I did,” he said. “But Lala! Why weren’t […]