“Life doesn’t come with a manual, it comes with a mother.” — Cleophus (Cleo) Franklin Jr. Not too long ago my family and I were sitting in a booth at a local restaurant waiting for our food to arrive. I…
Mary the rose garden
In the classic children’s book The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, a grieving father locks away the garden of his dead wife, forbids mention of it and hides all affection and beauty from his sickly son who he locks…
Mary the rosebud
Each time a new baby was born, a single red rosebud was placed on the altar in the sanctuary of my home church. My youngest child was born after I returned to serve there, and 12 years ago, her red…
Sexually harassing a nation
I have been watching social media as people are responding to the recent uptick of violent sexual rhetoric targeting women (and everyone, really) from former President Donald Trump and those from his inner circle. This aspect of the Trump campaign…
American dreaming
In a fraught conversation last week, a friend of mine shared with me her delusion with the election season as early voting opens in many states. “I hate all of them,” she said, referencing all the presidential and vice presidential…
Abortion after birth is called a school shooting
Lately we have heard the message that our daughters have fewer rights than we did. That’s a jarringly frightening notion as many women like me were not empowered to make decisions about our own bodies coming out of a deeply…
The cat ladies are with her
The last couple of weeks of U.S. politics has taken us on a ride. From an assassination attempt to pressure for the long-time statesman President Joe Biden to relinquish his re-election campaign, to the announcement of JD Vance as the…
Witch hunt finds Trump guilty
My children gleefully learned about labeling women “witches” from the movie The Princess Bride. In an infamous scene, while attempting to heal the mostly dead Westley, Miracle Max is accosted by his wife, Valerie. He responds with, “Get back, witch!”…
Trump has a women problem
As former President Donald Trump sits in criminal court racking up criminal contempt of court orders, the world gets a sordid view into the behind-the-scenes behavior of the former president. We shouldn’t be shocked; we have seen the pattern of…