Our father was both a wonderful, lovable parent and an abuser, both a liar and a former medic who sometimes understood how to comfort without being asked, both a vicious intellectual bully who gaslighted all of us and a producer... [more]

October 2006.  Four months since my son Jesse died.  Until now my grief had been tempered by hope that he would come to me in a dream to show me that he was okay.  But as days and weeks passed,... [more]

By the time we reached the Siskiyou Pass, the sky was dark.  A steady snowfall sparkled in the sweep of my headlights.  The road was slippery and visibility was very limited.  Behind the wheel, I felt a knot of tension in... [more]

Hope has long been a friend of mine. As a depressed teenager, the thing that most kept my spirits up was the anticipation of the next youth group event, or date with a girlfriend. Whatever the reasons for my current... [more]

A few years ago our family went through a difficult time.  The Great Recession swept away our fragile home business and we were in danger of losing our home.  We started questioning our understanding of God and the Bible,... [more]

It was the day after Election day, and I was feeling deeply despondent.  My brother kept sending me non-political cartoons via email.  I asked him if he was trying to console me.

Pete and I are 16 months apart.  Our mom... [more]

The known becomes the unknown.

The unknown looks me full in the face, unblinking,

At first incomprehensible.

Now is the time,

I hear from someplace far away

Yet closer than breath,

To step forward.

To cast aside the ease... [more]

Hope is the beguiling optimist who enchants me to another day.  She whispers encouragement to open my eyes; the trickster who takes advantage during that fracture of time between sleep and consciousness. The brief second that I lie suspended between... [more]