Category: inspiration
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A Graduation Speech Do-Over
On a balmy Georgia night twenty years ago, I stood behind a podium on the temporary stage erected on my high school’s football field. Wearing a purple robe and mortarboard, my dyed-platinum-blonde hair in beachy waves, I looked out at the faces of about 350 classmates. And I confidently delivered what I believed to be…
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Auld Lang Syne-0ff
It’s been ten loooong days since I returned home from Scotland. While there, I saw more beauty than I could process. But part of what made the trip so lovely was something very simple: my lack of connectivity. When John and I landed overseas, I turned off my mobile data, and, oh my gosh, was…
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2.7 seconds on a bull named Fu Manchu
Little memories of Ramón pop into my mind on an almost daily basis. Occasionally, though, one will surface from the darkest depths of my mind—things I haven’t thought about since they were present moments. One of these memories emerged last week, and, although it made me emotional, I was grateful for its reappearance. If I…
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I have done some things
Lately I’ve been in one of those funks where I struggle to give myself credit. I find myself thinking, “I don’t do anything worthwhile,” yet there is plenty of external evidence that proves otherwise. But rather than appreciating what I have done, I keep turning my focus to what I haven’t done. When I fall…
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RIP People-Pleasing Drew
As part of a writing program I’m taking, we were asked to write an obituary to a place or to a former version of ourselves. I opted for the latter. Here’s what I wrote: It is with the utmost liberation that we announce the long-awaited passing of People-Pleasing Drew. Often sacrificing her own joy to…
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What a fun season
“What a fun season!” I thought last night as my head hit the pillow. I felt satisfied despite the end of the Braves’ playoff run. But that hasn’t always been my approach to sports fandom. Ramón and I used to have Falcons’ season tickets. I’d look forward to going to the games and, on Sundays, I’d…
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Lessons from a sea turtle
As my mom and I walked along the beach one morning last week, I saw movement a few feet ahead. It was a baby sea turtle—a hatchling—flipped on his back along the shoreline. My immediate instinct was to flip him over and help him to sea, but I paused, uncertain if I’d inadvertently cause harm.…
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Take that, Labor Day
I spent many Labor Days in the hospital in my early 20s. As the seasons began to change, my lungs would get angry, leading to a cystic fibrosis exacerbation. It was Me vs. Ragweed, and I often tapped out first. Although it makes me a wee-bit nervous to say it, this is the best I’ve…
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Say NO to the second arrow
I was recently leaving the library like the nerd I am. I always pull out of the parking lot slowly because the visibility isn’t great — shrubbery on one side and a sign on the other. As I edged out, I saw a woman approaching on the sidewalk, stroller and dog in tow. I reversed…
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Livin’ it up at the Death Café
When I imagine a café, I picture an atmosphere teeming with energy — pleasant smells, bits of conversation and laughter, an overall sense of coziness. But when I first heard the term “Death Café,” my brain needed a moment to process. I’d never heard those words in such close proximity and certainly not paired together.…
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Hopes and dreams
“Got any hopes and dreams for today?” Ramón often asked me this on days we had together with no real obligations. I’d name an errand or a craving or the simple wish to spend a lazy day with him and the dogs. And today, three years after his death, I think about my answer to…
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ExtravaGranza
As we prepared to eat at a family gathering one afternoon, the power went out. “Let’s all bow our heads,” one of my uncles started. “It’s too dark to say the blessing,” responded Gran, the queen of one-liners. Today that comedic genius, my maternal grandmother, Gran, turns 99 years old. I caught up with her…
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37th Heaven
I turn 37 on April 26. On the surface, 37 doesn’t sound like a particularly significant age. It’s approaching “I’m almost 40” territory but not quite close enough to claim it. It’s an age best announced exactly as it is: 37. The number 37 stands out to me, though, because, as I entered adulthood, it…
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My grief shoes
Flat feet and hospital floors don’t mesh. When I moved into the hospital after Ramón’s cardiac arrest in spring of 2020, my flat feet lived in slippers. With COVID-19 confining me to Ramón’s room, you’d think I just sat around all day. But I was surprisingly mobile. I often stood as I massaged Ramón and…
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Is that my phone in your pocket?
On what we didn’t know would be our last wedding anniversary, my late husband, Ramón, and I went out to dinner before heading to a comedy show. As we finished eating, Ramón realized his phone was missing. “I think the guy at that table has it,” I told him as I gestured to a family…