Writing Archives

Pearl was the only child who had her own code at the zoo building where I worked. Whoever saw her first was required to push the alert button on their walkie-talkie and send the message “Code Pearl” crackling over the radio system. Hearing those two words meant we were in for another crazy ... Read More about Love Changes Us, Then Changes the World

If I don’t recognize the number on the screen when my cell phone rings, I don’t answer. (Of course, I may not answer even if I do recognize it because I’m an introvert, and answering the phone is just awful sometimes. But that is beside the point.) Several weeks ago, though, an unknown number ... Read More about How to Rise Up When the World Brings Us Low

Every January when I was in high school, I joined hundreds of other students to perform for an annual choral directors’ conference. We’d had a few practices regionally, but mostly we were expected to show up that weekend with our parts memorized. Before performing at the end of the second day, we ... Read More about How to Sing in the Dark

Two years ago, my nearly-three-year-old son Eli had a very specific Christmas list: A doorSome stepsA hardware storeToastRocks Even when the Santa Claus at the mall asked Eli what he wanted for Christmas, this is exactly the list he rattled off. (Needless to say, Santa was both ... Read More about How to Rejoice in Unexpected Gifts

My friend Jesse is a dancer. We met in seventh grade and I’ve seen him dance everywhere since. Even then, in middle school – that most unfortunate of times for nearly everyone – Jesse danced through the halls, on the sidewalk, down the narrow school bus aisles… He couldn’t help it then and he ... Read More about Hold On to the Light