By Felicia Hanosek
While on our journey here below, Beneath temptation’s pow’r, Through mists of darkness we must go, In peril ev’ry hour. MY MIND SPUN IN DARKNESS as I tried to comprehend the twilight zone this special day had become. Caitlyn, my eight-year-old daughter, was sitting in fetal position in the dressing room. The meeting should have started …
By Darlene Young
Baggy jeans, rolled up to fit short legs still pink and rounded but strong enough to kick covers off, race Daddy, leap puddles (unless it’s more fun not to). Sand in the cuffs and pockets of rocks summer-scavenged, Anakin, Pokémon, metal bolts and bits of magic treasure overlooked by grownups. Batman underpants beneath it all …
By Rebecca Walker Clarke
“YOU NEED TO SHARE.” My refrain to my eldest daughter Eliza is an echo of what my own mother said to me. But while my mother was a solid example of generosity, I am not. I tell Eliza to let her little sister use her things, yet she sees me check the caller ID before …
By Sara G
BETSEY’S BACK ARCHES as the chemotherapy drips into her blood. Transferred to Oncology from ICU, we start this medication the same day as a last ditch effort to save her life. I flee the room, the night she needs me, crying about the pain my one-year-old suffers fresh out of brain surgery, and my inability to …
By Cindy Clark
OH, I CAN HARDLY SAY IT. I can hardly type it. I can hardly think it. Well, all right, here goes—empty nest. Now, that’s taken care of. And you know what? It wasn’t so bad after all. In fact, the EN Syndrome that many women face and fear is actually a misnomer. It should be renamed …
By Margaret Blair Young
THREE YEARS AGO, film maker Scott Freebairn began filming tributes to black pioneers Jane Manning James, Green Flake, and Elijah Abel. Most of the footage was devoted to Jane James. Scott filmed Lita Giddins, Denise Cutliff and Tamu Smith—all of whom have portrayed that great pioneer—at “This is the Place Heritage Park” in Salt Lake City. …
By Nancy Soper
BUCKETS IN HAND, the boys and I set off to pick blackberries. We’re lucky enough to live near a park with lots of wild growth around the perimeter. The berry canes reached out thorny and threatening, heavy with the succulent fruit. After taking a needed taste to confirm the readiness for picking, we smiled our agreement. …
By Justine Dorton
WAS BARBIE FROM THE TRIASSIC PERIOD? I wondered yesterday as I watched my son and daughter playing together with each of their favorite toys. Barbie and Triceratops were happily frolicking through the den, apparently either married or dating. They were looking for some of Jocelyn’s other Barbies (their offspring?). Once found, they were all picked …
By Felicia Hanosek
MY KIDS AND I WERE VISITING MY MOM when the call came. Her ashen face rounded the corner while the phone attached to her ear periodically barked information. The barking stopped momentarily, and Mom turned to us. “I think you’d better sit down,” she croaked. “Louie is being life-flighted to University of Utah medical center.” Louie, …