Image credit: Photo by indoloony on Flickr Licensed under Creative Commons A few months after I first met Mark in college, we ran into each other in a campus dining hall. As we chatted, he admired my high school class ring. I held my hand out to let him see it more closely, and peering [...]
Posts under ‘anxiety’
Beware of the 8-Year-Old
Image credit: Photo by codepo8 on Flickr Licensed under Creative Commons Most kids (at least those who grow up in safe, middle class, American neighborhoods) don't see every new face at the front door (from evangelists to pizza delivery guys) as a potential threat. But Austen is not most kids. Unless they come bearing an [...]
Ellie’s Towel
Image credit: Photo by limonada on Flickr Licensed under Creative Commons A few years ago, I was visiting my friend Ellie and was a guest in her house for the first time in my life. I had just taken a shower and was standing in her bathroom, a wet towel in my hand, at a [...]
What Are You Going to Do Now?
Image credit: Photo by Frank Peters on Flickr Licensed under Creative Commons I shared in a meeting recently about my fear around my husband's business trips and how that fear is a reminder to me to connect with my Higher Power. After the meeting a newcomer asked me what I'm going to do now: I [...]
Business Trip Phobia
Image credit: Photo by sweetteaindahouse on Flickr Licensed under Creative Commons I fear business trips. But it's not my own business trips I fear — as a mom who left corporate work behind some nine years ago, I don't get those myself anymore — it's my husband's. When Mark was active in his sex addiction, [...]
Finding God Together
Image credit: Photo by ashley.adcox on Flickr Licensed under Creative Commons "Do you remember what you said to me when I first started talking about God?" Mark asked the other day, "You said, 'I am willing to try to work through this sex addiction crap, but if you ever become a Christian, I swear, I [...]
Recovery is Sexy
Image credit: Photo by Eternal ☼ Sunshine on Flickr Licensed under Creative Commons It was raining the night I first kissed my husband. The wind was hissing and howling through the bare branches of the trees, rattling the last of the dead leaves still clinging to their posts. Before we kissed, we twined our hands [...]
Sharing the Silence
Image credit: Art by zedzap on Flickr Licensed under Creative Commons Like many people, I walked into my first 12 Step meeting never expecting to wind up there, with no clue what to expect other than what Hollywood had taught me (which I soon learned was nothing accurate). The meetings I first started attending were [...]
No Answers
Image credit: Detail of a photo by Carla216 on Flickr Licensed under Creative Commons This week, when our family pet went missing and later turned up dead, I did an obsessive imitation of some of my favorite literary detectives; like Sherlock Holmes, I tried to piece together the smallest clues and like Hercule Poirot, I [...]
Asking for What I Need
Image credit: Photo by c@rljones on Flickr Licensed under Creative Commons Earlier this week, I had a rough morning with my daughter, my son was sick, I had an IEP meeting scheduled (those of you who don't know what that is, be glad you don't) and on top of it all, I couldn't find a [...]
