I felt something close to what you describe when I read the news. Anthony Bourdain is also one of my heroes, for reasons similar to yours; as is Robin Williams who taught me at an early awkward age that it was ok to be weird. Although they have both passed…

Submissions welcome for longer stories also. An epic hug sent to you (albeit virtually) upon submission. — Legend has it that in a Paris restaurant in 1923, Ernest Hemingway’s friends challenged the writer to craft a story in just six words. The novelist responded with: “For Sale: baby shoes, never worn.” I’ve come across this Hemingway story many times throughout my life, but this time I cite…

My pet name for Grief — This is a story for a Grief Playbook that doesn’t exist…because each story is different, as is every day that I navigate a sea of emotions and numbness that come at me in waves. Grief is an uncouth animal. It springs out of nowhere with neither invitation nor provocation. On…

What I‘m learning while staring at our unfinished Scrabble games — Every mother in the world occasionally feels utterly cursed. If you’re a mother, you know. If you’re not a mother, you don’t know. Don’t argue with me. I’m not even talking about the bearing phase…that period of rent-free human occupation in your belly — while compromising your diaphragm, bladder and…