Category Archives: Family

Smiling Like a Showgirl

Posted on March 31, 2020 by

A letter to my 14-month-old granddaughter during the coronavirus of 2020. Continue reading →

Posted in Childhood, Courage, Family, Ideas, Joy (Joie de General), Love, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sixty Years On

Posted on December 18, 2019 by

Who’ll walk me down to church when I’m sixty years of ageWhen the ragged dog they gave me has been ten years in the graveAnd senorita play guitar, play it just for youMy rosary has broken and my beads have … Continue reading →

Posted in Autobiographical, Childhood, Courage, Family, Home, Ideas, Love | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

The Attic of Our Lives

Posted on September 30, 2019 by

I thought I had gotten away from that long-ago house. You would think marrying when you are 18 years old would be enough to snap the thread, but I guess it is not so. A few months ago I visited … Continue reading →

Posted in Autobiographical, Childhood, Courage, Family, Home, Knoxville, Love, Music, Screen, Women, Writing | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

A Man of Value

Posted on August 26, 2019 by

Values over riches, people over things: remembering my father and dealing with the grief. Continue reading →

Posted in Autobiographical, Beauty, Blooming, Childhood, Creativity, Dementia, Family, Freedom, Happiness, Ideas, Knoxville, Love, Music, Tribute, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Coming Home to Myself

Posted on July 31, 2019 by

For the ones who had a notion,A notion deep inside,That it ain’t no sin to be glad you’re alive . . . Bruce Springsteen, “Badlands”, 1977 A few months before Bruce Springsteen wrote his elegaic anthem “Badlands”, I left my … Continue reading →

Posted in Alzheimer's, Autobiographical, Bruce Springsteen, Childhood, Courage, Creativity, Dementia, Education, Family, Freedom, Happiness, Home, Ideas, Knoxville, Love, Music, Op/Ed Thoughts, Tribute, Women, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Secrets: An Inheritance

Posted on April 30, 2019 by

Secrets: Cancer of the soul. Continue reading →

Posted in Autobiographical, Childhood, Creativity, Family, Home, Writing | Leave a comment

His Heart’s Eye Is Open

Posted on December 31, 2018 by

I grieve for each passing year that Daddy is not here to fervently hope that Clemson can beat Alabama for the NCAA football Championship. I grieve that he missed by 11 months seeing his great-grandson Lincoln’s endlessly fascinating face. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Alzheimer's, Autobiographical, Childhood, Courage, Family, Happiness, Ideas, Love, Op/Ed Thoughts, Wonder | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

What A Woman Needs: It Starts with Damn . . .

Posted on November 30, 2018 by

[On November 30, 2014, I wrote the following blogpost about how I grew up in a sheltered, no-cussing household, but found that, as I got older, I needed a few choice words to illustrate my life. Four years later I find … Continue reading →

Posted in Autobiographical, Family, Knoxville, Women, Work | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Finding Darcus

Posted on October 31, 2018 by

Since at least 1992, I have been searching for my grandmother, Darcus Montgomery. She gave birth to my father in April 1935, and only four months later–in early August–she died. Naturally I assumed Daddy’s mother died from childbirth complications, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Autobiographical, Childhood, Courage, Dementia, Family, Happiness, Home, Knoxville, Love, Uncategorized, Women, Wonder | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Under the Influence

Posted on July 31, 2018 by

A possible way forward in the middle of turmoil and strife: adventure, balance, curiosity, dreams, education, and being found together. Continue reading →

Posted in Autobiographical, Books, Childhood, Courage, Education, Family, Friends, Happiness, Ideas, Knoxville, Music, Op/Ed Thoughts, Tribute, Uncategorized, Wonder, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment