In January of 2020, I was asked by a dear friend, a reverend, to deliver a sermon in her stead. What follows is my attempt to honor her belief that I was even remotely qualified to do so. Watch here Friends, I am so incredibly honored to be here with you today. It strikes me … Continue reading
*Blows dust off WordPress* Oh, hi. Fancy meeting you here. I know it’s been a dog’s age since I’ve been by, but as I’m sure you’ve noticed, we’ve pretty much moved all the action to the Facebook page these days. That said, what follows is something that I want to live here, where it can … Continue reading
If ever you hear my words, if ever you take in any single morsel of the reams and reams that I write, please, I beg you, let it be these. I didn’t see it. I didn’t see HER. I’d asked her to come speak with me. I’d raved and raved about her words, her thoughts, her … Continue reading
I wrote the following last summer. Last July, to be precise. My dad is a hugger. He’s not a polite hugger. He’s a look-out-cause-here-he-comes hugger. He’s a hands on, I-love-you-and-I’m-a-gonna-show-you hugger. He’s an I-haven’t-seen-you-in-far-too-long-so-get-over-here-and-hug-your-papa-kiddo hugger. He is the most physically demonstrative person I’ve ever met. I’m 45 years old and still, I can’t walk by him without him … Continue reading
Last night, as my dad drove us home from the amusement park, he said, “Brooke, we’re about three minutes away from home now.” In another minute, he said, “Brooke, about two minutes left, okay?” As we got close, he said, “We’re going to go around the river, up the hill, and then around one bend. … Continue reading
Editor’s note: I have done something that I don’t typically do here. I have changed some details of the scenario you are about to read. Although they have no bearing on the story itself, they are important in the context of Brooke’s privacy. That’s all. Carry on. {image is a photo of Brooke at the zoo … Continue reading
In case you missed it, it’s been a busy few days over on the Diary Facebook page. It started with a celebration of the marriage of these two delightful pensioners, as newly allowed by the Supreme Court decision. Together for FIFTY-FIVE years, they were the first couple to be married in Dallas County, TX. How … Continue reading
Dear Suzanne, It seems we’re here again. I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to be having a different version of the same old tired conversation. But I don’t know what else to do. I don’t know how else to counter the harm that you continue to do in the name of some … Continue reading
{image is a photo of a woman who is not me shouting from a rooftop, presumably because she just realized that she doesn’t have neurotypicalism either} “So just as one can be described as Jewish or Catholic or gay without taking away from any of the other possible descriptors, they can also be described as autistic … Continue reading
There are so many things that inform my parenting. None, of course, more than my study of my children and my deep and abiding love for them along with the conviction that if my Mama gut is telling me something, I should likely listen. But when you parent a child who, in some fundamental way, experiences … Continue reading
