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7 Jul

A Hysterical Pregnancy Is A Wish That A Desperate Uterus Makes

Last week, in a fit of confusion and something that tasted a little bit like desperation salted with hope, I wrote what follows. I didn’t publish it, of course, because even though I tend to be pretty confessional in this space, I am, at the end of the day, loathe to post anything that makes me look insane, or idiotic, or both:

I am convinced that I am pregnant. The thing is, I can’t possibly be pregnant. You see how this could be confusing.

I can’t be pregnant because my husband had a vasectomy. Sure, there have been cases where vasectomies have failed, but those are extremely rare. So rare, that when you google ‘vasectomy failure rates’ you come across eleventeen thousand variations on jokes with the punchline vasectomy failure — or did the postman ring twice, *nudge-nudge-wink-wink*?? Also, I’m old, at least within the context of fertility. Late maternal age and all that. Which is one of the reasons why we had the vasectomy, which involves snippage of the internal man parts, which is why it’s a pretty good bet, contraception-wise. So I can’t be pregnant.

But that’s not stopping me from feeling like I am.

5 Jul

And Her Heart Grew Three Sizes That Day

This weekend, my sister ran in a tutu for Tanner. Afterwards, she wrote this:

Wow. Life is a journey, a path that has been laid before us – to help us learn, love and grow. To push ourselves and just HAVE FAITH. In life and each other. I will readily admit, sometimes my faith falters… I think it does for everybody. Some days I am brought to my knees by grief. NOT because I feel sorry for myself or wish for a different life, but simply because I look at my kids and my heart swells and breaks at the same time. And I know many many parents face this and probably much worse than I do. I have the time. I can clockwatch, as my sister says. Though it may seem torturous, and some days it is, I am blessed with knowing now that life is moments. The here and now, not yesterday and not tomorrow. We have to cherish each and every breath we take. I have been taught that and have been blessed to make EVERY moment that I can of Tanner’s life be memorable and meaningful. I have at least that time for now.

2 Jul

She’ll Be Coming Down The Mountain

I am sometimes told that I come off as intimidating. This always surprises me, because I’m pretty convinced that I’m a giant dork, which, I know, is what everyone says, but still: in my case it’s absolutely one hundred and sixty seven percent true. I mean, I have spent pretty much the entirety of my life so far – with the exception of the times that I was doing this stuff – huddled in corners reading books and scribbling stories and that, my friends, is a sure-fire way to grow up with no life skills.

Life skills like, agreeing to do things like ‘ride a zip line’ without knowing what a zip line is (the evidence presents itself about a minute in):