Insane Earthlings

Thanksgiving will never be the same again. My mother was always at her happiest when family gathered together to share food and laughter. This year we will all miss the enthusiasm that my mother displayed for all things holiday related. I knew this was coming. I knew that it would be a difficult day. But until November 12, I had no idea how hopeless I would feel this Thanksgiving. The election results kicked me in the gut and left me with a sick feeling. It feels like the time I wiped out on my bike and the handlebar made a direct hit to my spleen. I was bleeding internally. It’s a uniquely sick type of feeling. I was sweating, but cold to the touch. I felt completely wiped out. I could not catch my breath at first, and then felt an overwhelming desire to just let go and fall asleep. My parents arrived home just as the neighbor called to check on me. The neighbor had helped me get home after the wipeout, but assumed my parents were home because both cars were there. But my paren...

Just when the last spark of hope seems to be surrendering to lack of oxygen, a few words can gently blow in through the ethernet, scrawled in shaky ink and offer a breathe that whispers the gray from it's surface and the heat glows visible for a moment.  When I began writing blog posts I had no plan. I was just putting my thoughts on glass and sending them to the vague world of the internet. More people have read what I have written than I ever imagined. My post about my experience as a student in a class about the Vietnam War was published in a magazine called The Veteran. And just when I needed it most, the editor of that magazine sent me this note from a reader: And on Veteran's Day, I attended a breakfast talk delivered by a co-worker at an event called Creative Mornings. She gave a powerful multimedia performance of imagery, acting, and speaking that moved a crowd of a few hundred. There is power in creating something. So the fact that I created something tha...

Hillary Clinton suffered a disadvantage over the last several months. It’s an advantage that Barack Obama enjoyed during both of his Presidential campaigns. My mother was here, on this earth, voicing her advocacy for her candidate. If you ever met my mother, you would know that having her in your corner was a competitive advantage that belied her petite stature. By this point my mother would have already voted. But had she been here among us who are still confined to this realm, she would have been spending the last several months reminding everyone how important it is to elect Hillary Clinton. My mother was not a partisan loyalist. She always voted for the candidate that she felt was the nicest, had the best policies for families, and acted in a dignified manner.   And she was not always vocal about her choices. But as she grew older, and her family grew to include grandchildren and great-grandchildren, she began to speak out for the candidates she believed would help shape a...