January seems particularly dark this year. Despite the slowly lengthening days and the slivers of hope afforded by the earlier sunrises and later sunsets, it’s gloomy.
Fierce Gratitude
After my friend died unexpectedly from a stroke 15 months ago, I wandered through my days in a fog, not able to focus on the tasks in front of me.
If I wondered if she’d been trapped inside her body unable to speak to us for that week, I’d think of her as a prisoner, stuck there in the hospital bed while her worried friends commented about the swelling in her legs, a phantom movement in her hand, her yellow nail polish.
Welcome, I've been waiting for you.
My husband and I arrived at our friends’ house on a stormy spring evening; raindrops hung in the air as we stepped inside.
On our way to the kitchen, we passed a tumble of shoes and a full wall of children’s artwork hung up with push pins. Our friends immediately introduced us to their other guests — two other couples — and offered us drinks.