I sobbed as a six-year-old when I dropped one of my mothers collector dolls, and the porcelain face of the doll was broken. My heart was truly broken. How could I tell my mother, who allowed me to play with her little treasures, that I had broken one of them? I remember thinking that I…
I was awakened with cramping and pain in my lower right back. Burning. I knew it was the onset of a kidney or urinary tract infection. It just couldn’t be! Not now! Not here! It was a sticking point. A sticking point is defined as a point, issue, or situation that causes or is likely to…
It was the beginning of a new decade. 1990. I had earned my doctoral degree, and I was ready to set the world on fire. I had already had tremendous success with beginning each New Year powerfully. With purpose. With plans. With passion. However, I had stretched myself so far outside of my comfort zone…
It was 1978, and I was still naïve and green behind the ears. But there was just something different that year. It was the first time in my life that I dared to shoot for extraordinary. I didn’t even know what extraordinary really meant… But I was determined to find out if it was real.…
It was on the Sunday before Christmas that the youth director told us to consider who we wanted to be in the coming year. I was a shy and naïve teenager, and couldn’t who or what I wanted to be. But against all odds, I went ahead and wrote the three words on the paper…
It was on Christmas Eve around 8 PM that my phone rang. I assumed it was a “Merry Christmas” call. A worker at the Alzheimer’s Care Home had accidentally turned my dad’s wheelchair over and his head was split open. He was in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. We immediately turned the…
I was three years old and my thumb was crushed and stuck in the gears of a chamois wringer at a gas station. I was screaming, and blood was everywhere. The only way to get it out was to ring it backwards as I screamed and eventually passed out. The news was grim. Within a…
When I was a little girl I could hardly wait til the last day of school. As the bus would near my home I could see Mamaw’s car in the driveway. My heart began thumping like a bass drum in my chest, and I could hardly choke the tears back as I jumped off the…
Thanksgiving… Great food… Turkey … Family … Friends … Laughter … Pumpkin pie. It’s all part of a wonderful day… But midst all of those great things, don’t forget ‘tis the season to give thanks! Thanksgiving is such a wonderful time. Yes, every family has an Aunt Sally or Uncle Billy, or someone who creates…
I couldn’t breathe. My chest was pounding, but in a different way. It was like each pounding beat was the breaking off of another piece of my heart. Pain shot through my neck and down my left arm like a bullet. I was dizzy. My hands were sweaty, I was shaking as if unclothed in…