aging
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Am I Just Painting This Old Wagon Blue?
I don’t remember if I taught him the song or if he taught it to me. But one summer, Grandpap Swayne and I sang, Little red wagon painted blue…, as we played dominoes, painted by numbers, and watched cartoons on TV. When I was a child, Mother and I traveled from our home in Richmond, Virginia, to… Continue reading
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The Curious Case of the Very Fit Facebook Lady
She inhabits my Facebook newsfeed. Claiming to be in her 70s, she posts daily Reels showing herself performing vigorous exercises — step aerobics, weight lifting, advanced yoga asanas, or some combination of the three. Anyone who takes only a brief look at her videos might assume she is in her 20s. In fact, many 20-year-olds… Continue reading
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Overcoming the Dread
My inability to sleep on Sunday nights began when I was 13. After a weekend away from middle school, I lay in bed anticipating the week ahead. A test is coming up. That girl in gym class is waiting to bully me again — to shout at me that I’m no good at basketball; I’m too prissy;… Continue reading
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Vacationing Old
The shuttle bus eased to a stop. As the doors slid open, everyone rushed to deboard. Everyone, that is, except me. I had learned to stay out of the way. By Day Three of a four-parks-in-four-days whirlwind adventure at Disney World, I knew that if I tried to leave whatever conveyance I was on in… Continue reading
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The Wizard of Awe
I have lived my entire life in the grip of fear. When artist Georgia O’Keeffe, the Mother of American Modernism, the woman whose decades-long career would transcend conventional art movements of her time, made this startling statement in 1938, I like to imagine that she spoke across time and space directly to me. I’ve been… Continue reading
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Nourishing Love Later in Life
For me, late November always brings with it a host of memories, bad and good. Recollections from my childhood of my mother’s volatility during the holiday season. Her seeming disdain for Thanksgiving and Christmas–perhaps because of their added demand on her as the manager and keeper of our house. Memories of the holidays when my… Continue reading
Do you write about yourself and your experiences? Do you write about traumatic events in your life? Or, do you struggle to find time and motivation to write?
If so, this blog is for you.
Person on the Page 