Six months after my mother had passed in 2011, I was at my sister’s house in Toronto, going through the relics of her life in her bedroom. While most people typically conjure an image of a cluttered, archaistic, clandestine room…
Ethics at the end of life: How medicine and technology have changed the context of dying
As the school year ends and I try to process the many agonies of the annus horribilus COVID year of 2020-21, I will remember many deaths, but most especially the death of my father in late December 2020. These posts,…
Think you understand what it’s like to live on minimum wage? Here’s my story
Two weeks before I got married, I lost my job delivering pizzas because I had gotten three tickets for minor traffic violations over the previous two years. So when we got back from our honeymoon, I landed a job working…
COVID took my Mom but did not have the final word
COVID-19 thinks it took another victim tonight, Dec. 14, 2020. There will be a death listed in the Bell County, Texas, newspaper, with the State of Texas, and other databases. For my family and me, that death is not just…
Why I’m a 26-year-old mother of five
The mandate of the Scriptures in James is clear, to care for the widow and the orphan. If this is the case, then why are we so slow to do so? Why are we living in a time where there…
62 years later, we learned the truth about Uncle Ray, a truth we needed to know
Veterans Day seemed a bit more sacred to me this year. After a contentious election and reshuffling of chief military officials, I thought about our connections to those who serve on the home front or abroad, often in life-altering, terrifying…
Getting into the holiday spirit is hard this year
Along with the election next week, I cannot ignore the fact that the darkest, loneliest period of the year begins Sunday with the end of Daylight Savings Time. Before my husband’s death in April 2009, I never paid much attention…
I’m a stay-at-home dad who’s learning the power of relationships
I’m a stay-at-home dad for five kids under the age of 10. One of the most common responses to my recent piece about how John MacArthur doesn’t love his neighbor has been people attacking me for being a stay-at-home dad. Who…
Father’s Day reflection: Dad’s wallet was a pocket portfolio of a life lived honorably and dutifully
A Father’s Day reflection: Going through Dad’s wallet a couple years after his death was sure to carry me back. How far, I had no idea until I dove in.