Aimed Toward the Light
Aimed Toward the Light
I am rapidly brushing up on a year since several people in my life have passed. I’ve…
Author
Sweetly Adrift
Sweetly Adrift
"I can't make that flight back. I can't for a lot of reasons. And I told you before I left, I…
The Mississippi Reformation
Mississippi Reformation
There is a place where all of my thoughts escape—confined to an unplanned and unexpected…
To Carry You Home
To Carry You Home
Time is a confusing thing she thought. It seemed that the further forward it ran from her the…
Pinatubo Moon
Pinatubo Moon
I sat out on the window ledge of my second-story bedroom in my parent's home for what became the…
Hope is a Thing with Splinters
Hope is a Thing with Splinters
Recently I've been trying valiantly to ignore a niggling feeling. I've been…
It’s Like Fucking Cancer
It's Like Fucking Cancer
So people have wondered, why haven't I written about this? Well, I just haven't. And,…
To What I Become
To What I Become: I'm coming up on eleven years of a milestone in my life. It felt like a good time to write…
What Brought Me Here
What Brought Me Here
There are a few funny things about the God in my life today.
The first and most ironic,…
How I Know It Is Time To Go Back To Work
How I Know It Is Time To Go Back To Work
So, breezily, I decide to finish up my 110th Nutcracker soldier costume…
How the Soul of Dog Came to Be
Soul of Dog
When God made love
in perfect form
He saw that it was
good
He sent it down
from up above and…
The Letter To Myself
The Letter To Myself
It has been some years now since my life was so profoundly changed. I often wonder if I…
Kind People Never Know
Kind People Never Know
Raising a child with special needs is a layered journey, that’s for sure! Some of what…
The Window
The Window
There is a crazy amount of stress to be found in my everyday world. There are therapies, schools, and…
A Simple Rain
A Simple Rain
The earth is hushed
Those with places to go hurry inside
As outside the sky
Opens up …
Veteran’s Daughter
Veteran's Daughter
My father left Oregon State University in nineteen sixty-three. He traded in his books to…
The Way Sorrow Moves
The Way Sorrow Moves
My sorrow has not moved in any direction that I can follow. I’ve read about all the …
Flowers Pressed in a Book
Flowers Pressed in a Book
Flowers pressed in a book
once so vibrant
stemmed of green
petals palest of…
The Duke
The Duke
Out beyond the window under an angry silver and gray torrent of God’s tears, a storm begins to gather…
Kaleidoscopes, Butterflies, and Papers in the Wind
Kaleidoscopes, Butterflies, and Papers in the Wind
There are moments that catch my breath and make my heart…
Hearts in my Path
Hearts in my Path
I turned forty-one today. It was a quiet start to my day this year.
It was, in fact,…
Prettiest of Lies
Prettiest of Lies
She took things ordinary and mundane
and spun them into magic
into a land of whimsy…
New Disabled Access Service Passports in Disneyland
New Disabled Access Service Passports in Disneyland
In early October 2013, amidst much clamor and noise Disney…
Finding the Elephants
Finding the Elephants
I wanted to write today because it became apparent in the tiny words "Can I call you, I want…
The Embers
The Embers
I had to wait until today, after October shut down, to even begin to write this. My heart is so weary…
Stepping Stones in Writing
Stepping Stones in Writing
One of my goals in writing has been to describe the process. Not only the feelings…
Insanity at Max Interval
Insanity at Max Interval
So I decided to sit down and write out about my struggle for fitness and weight…
The Full Circle Tree
The Full Circle Tree
Last year at about this very time Nicholas began his first day of special needs…
To Begin Again
To Begin Again
December 28, 2010: Today I want to tell you how Nicholas began, and how he then came to begin…
Carly Simon Means RUN!
Carly Simon Means RUN!
There are times, like today when the dust settles around my spirit and I feel,…
Totally Biased and Completely Unscientific
Totally Biased and Completely Unscientific
I've been thinking of a friend and how much she has made it through…
The Wolf
The Wolf
So in the heart of every mother lives the barely contained beat of a primal animal's heartbeat. It…
I Am the Spirit
I Am the Spirit
I Am...
I am the spirit of the vibrantly hued flower
Whose color flashes warning of a siren…
The Funhouse Glass
The Funhouse Glass
Many times I have found myself standing
in the vast empty lands of the scapes of
long empty…
Elopement and Autism: It’s Just Different
Elopement and Autism
As May shuts its door, I feel compelled to try my hand at hashing out my attempt to honor the…
Autism Diaries 2: The Things we Say
Autism Diaries 2
It's taken 3 years in Autism land to feel stronger about some of the things that are said in…
The Clarity of Catawampus
The Clarity of Catawampus
I believe in the pure sweet clear musings of a poetess & the quill & ink &…
Dizzy Wings
Dizzy Wings
Birds herald
the coming of Spring
as one big group
headlong they go
upward spinning in…
The Road I Am On
The Road I Am On
As another phase of my life drifts to close I am aware of a few things. I am acute, to my bones…
Winter Falls
Winter Falls
Winter blew in early that year
The trees gave up their autumn finery
And settled into stark black…
Take Me There She Said
Take Me There She Said
"Take me there," she said,
the little sister
into the eyes of the older
And so she…
Christmas 2010
Christmas 2010
So Christmas has rolled around again. And we've come so far from where we were last year!…
Moving The Puzzle Pieces
Moving The Puzzle Pieces
There is a lonely quality to the dark that falls in a hospital room at night.…
Marriage And The Land Of Disability
The Land Of Disability
December 2, 2010 - I've had another thought on what makes Autism so special in my life.…
Reflections On Thanksgiving
Reflections On Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving 2010 - I was reflecting on this last year and feeling all the changes…
The Woman On The Hill
Woman On The Hill
Upon the hill
she stands
seeing from a muffled
distance the world
below her
lazily unfold…
One Year in the Autism Diaries
Autism Diaries
And so the circle has come fully back to where it is from. It has been one year that I knew my path…
Autism Walk – Pretty Pieces
Autism Walk
October 3, 2010
It's been a while since I could write. It has to be admitted that though I am still…
I Wish I Tumbled
I Wish I Tumbled
I wish I tumbled
like rolling waves
of tall green grasses
in a meadow
somewhere…
Weeping Willow And The Whiskey Moon
Weeping Willow And The Whiskey Moon
In the cool
cast by her shade
there under the tendrils
of her wispy limbs…
Fire in The Dream
Fire in The Dream
She is fire
trapped
behind glass
deep in the
coolness of
a watery blue
bits of her…
A.B.A. Therapies: A Short Overview
A.B.A. Therapies
My son Neeko began his in-home A.B.A. therapy.
I guess I should break down what that is.…
Travels on the McKenzie River
McKenzie River
I’ve been away so it has been hard for me to write in any flowing congruous way. In fact, it’s just…
Autism Diaries 5
Autism Diaries 5
December 21, 2009
I met Sam today, the son of the woman who told me Nicholas had Autism and…
From The Ashes
From The Ashes
I am from a Navy father
soaked in love for the
red, white, and blue
born of celebration
the…
A Cat Called Rupert
A Cat Called Rupert
Even after all of these years, I believe it was Rupert who swaggered in and saved me. A cat as…
Signs and Symptoms of Autism
Signs and Symptoms of Autism
If you suspect your child is Autistic for any, or no reason that you can really…
Autism Diaries 4
Autism Diaries 4
October 26, 2009
I called the Regional Center today. It is an organization that provides help…
Autism for Dummies 3
Autism for Dummies 3
On Mother's Day, I feel a need to reflect. There are things I've learned as a direct result…
Autism for Dummies 2
Autism for Dummies 2
Again we must remember the spectral aspect of Autism. If we view it like a rainbow in our…
Autism for Dummies 1
Autism for Dummies 1
What is Autism? I wanted to wait a while and educate myself as to what it is said to be and…
Autism Diaries 1
Autism Diaries 1
October 23, 2009
Today I met with the mother of a 16-year-old boy who is Autistic. She echoed,…