I was browsing around Target the other day, when I came across the most fabulous book I have seen in a long, long time: How to Change Someone You Love: Four Steps to Help You Help Them. I laughed the kind of laugh that ought to have sent flocks of birds scattering in alarm. Instead [...]
Posts under ‘communication’
Smooth as Silk
Image credit: Photo by
Jesse Draper on Flickr
Licensed under Creative Commons
Silk is a sexy fabric. It's smooth and soft and falls in glistening ripples like waves. Years ago, shortly before I moved to another state to be with Mark, I sent him a pair of silk boxers as a gift, and he wrote me [...]
Nightmares
Image credit: Photo by
samzie2006 on Flickr
Licensed under Creative Commons
I woke up this morning, muscles clenched like a fist and throat tight with anxiety, wanting to grab my son and never let him go. I crept to where he was sleeping and ran my fingers through his curls, reassuring myself he was there and safe. [...]
World’s Most Codependent Home Videos
Image credit: Photo by
Stephen Poff on Flickr
Licensed under Creative Commons
Somewhere, gathering dust on a dark, forgotten shelf in my house is a video that helped greatly in my recovery. It's not one that you can buy on Amazon.com and it's not one that will help any of you. It's a video of me. [...]
The Racial Issue
Image credit: Photo by
GarySmith70 on Flickr
Licensed under Creative Commons
"Mama, I'm half black, half white," Janie calls to me from where she's playing in the living room.
I'd been wondering when this day would come, the day when my biracial daughter would finally notice race and start talking about herself in racial terms. Before either of [...]
It’s Not About Sex
Image credit: Photo by
Leo Reynolds on Flickr
Licensed under Creative Commons
With the story of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford's week-long disappearance to visit his mistress in Argentina buzzing about, we're faced yet again with a barrage of images of a public figure tearfully apologizing for his infidelity, while his job hangs in jeopardy.* And in [...]
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 together [...]
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 family pet (which [...]
The Hardest Words
Image credit: Photo by
Bekah Stargazing on Flickr
Licensed under Creative Commons
My son Austen, like many other autistic individuals, does not like (or understand the purpose of) many of society's little pleasantries. He balks at words like hello, goodbye, please, sorry and thank you; anything that can appear in a conversation as part of a [...]
