The house that backs up to my yard and basically is the border of my yard, the one that the crooked contractor bought for $30k, then set fire to, and then went to prison for cheating all the post-2005 Federal Flood people, the one who transferred the house to his mother so they wouldn’t take it while he was in prison, but his mother died while he was in, and then he died when he…
Yang: Tin has a girlfriend at school and she loves My Little Pony and turned him onto it. He had to come to grips with the fact that other boys at school said this was the hallmark of girldom. He had to reconcile his love for the androgynous Rainbow Dash and effervescent Twilight Sparkle. And truth to tell, he has done a good job except for occasionally wanting me to keep the fact that he…
A friend sent me a text this morning after a difficult conversation with someone she had given her heart over to. Her heart was not being handled the way she had hoped and so she grew more restless, defensive, and hurt during the relationship. Is this love? she has asked too many times. A friend gave me the Five Love Languages for Children where I read that Tin’s love language is in physical touch. It’s…
At 1:45 PM on March 5, 2009, Tin was born. He weighed 6 lbs and 7.3 oz and was 20” long. His mother lovingly held him in her arms. His father was not present. The next nine months were challenging. I met him on December 7, 2009, in 14 degree weather, when he was handed to me wearing nothing but a diaper. I dressed him in my friend’s daughter’s clothes, including pink socks. They say…
Yesterday, I challenged others to keep their hearts open and by the afternoon, I was put to the test. As a Teacher of Love, I first have to be a student and so when the phone rang, with that old familiar ring tone, my heart leapt at first, but I did not answer. Sty was calling, [ringtone: Anthony Hamilton’s Cool] saying he has struggled without me, saying he is sorry for whatever it was I…
The other day a friend told me that I’m a teacher of love and I need to understand it as my purpose. So I sent her a snapshot of the sign I had made by Dr. Bob and hung over my threshold: Another friend had come to see me recently, his wife, my dear friend, had passed last May and he was struggling to find his footing even while his children were adjusting better than…
My friend came by Friday night and I invented a drink for him. It was so delicious, let me tell you about it. It’s called – of course – The Marlowe: I rock glass filled with ice 1 shot of vodka (preferably Ketel One) 1 half shot of St. Elder (or St. Germaine) 1 half shot of Bissap (http://bissapbreeze.com) Fill glass with La Croix (orange flavor) Squeeze a bit of lemon WALA!
Yesterday into this morning was a lesson in how to cram five lives into one. Tin and I began the day at a playground design workshop at the new school where parents and children got to brainstorm about what they wanted in our new playground. Afterwards everyone had to select committees and I picked to be the DJ spinning records for six hours on the build day. #stopmebeforeIvolunteeragain Then I dashed over to the Healing…
She said to me, “I’ve met many students of love but never a teacher of love and that is what you are.” Last night, I finished reading Tiny Little Things by Cheryl Strand and picked up again Stalking Elijah by Rodger Kamenetz. I’m almost finished with the book but it took a different turn in that the expert on Judaism was poo pooing the notion of a benevolent God who is looking out for us.…
Peaks and valleys. That’s how I would classify life, only as I enter this phase of my life, the peaks last longer and the valleys are not insurmountable and are quickly dispensed with when they no longer serve me. At the end of last week, four work projects rolled in, the pipeline opened. Yesterday, I cracked the code on my fatigue and today started a grain-free diet. Today, I went to yoga for the first…