Returning to full-time teaching after such a long time away required a leap of faith. I went from a controlled, perfect little family situation where there seemed to be no problems at all, to a classroom where I was seen mainly as another challenge for the more aggressive students. The class knew they’d run out [...]
Archive for the ‘MEMOIR’ Category
PART THREE: BLUE SKIES
Posted in A HOLE IN OUR PARACHUTE, MEMOIR on October 6, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Those years in our first home went smoothly. Our expenses were reasonable, our income steady. Best of all, we lived in a town that posed very few temptations when it came to spending. There was a single movie theatre, two small malls, and a few modest restaurants and a string of fast food places – [...]
MIDDLE-AGE: BUMPED OFF THE LADDER
Posted in A HOLE IN OUR PARACHUTE, REFLECTIONS, tagged ageism, boomer unemployment, company politics, downsized, ovoerqualified and unemployed on October 1, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
People talk about the difficulties of youth – their struggle to not only find themselves, but settle on goals and work towards them. Once done, they think there is nothing but smooth sailing ahead, particularly if a few darling little children have already rounded out and enriched their lives.
Don’t be embarrassed by your naivete. I [...]
PART TWO: THE SEEDS ARE PLANTED
Posted in A HOLE IN OUR PARACHUTE, MEMOIR, tagged attitudes towards money, downsized, downsizing, financial hardship in middle-age, spending versus saving, taking financial risks on September 9, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Right from the start, my husband and I realized we shared a similar philosophy towards money: it couldn’t buy happiness, but it was definitely meant to be enjoyed. Now, that doesn’t sound too unusual, until you consider the fact that together, we put a higher value on enjoying our money than we did on saving [...]
PART ONE: A BRICK WALL
Posted in A HOLE IN OUR PARACHUTE, MEMOIR, REFLECTIONS, tagged forced to downsize, unemployment on August 22, 2009 | 6 Comments »
I haven’t posted a blog entry for over two months now, and you’re probably wondering if I’m just one of those “fly-by-nights” who start blogs with lofty intentions, then abandon them. I promise you, that’s not what’s happened. It’s “life” that’s gotten in the way, and while the mess and stress of it has given me lots [...]
JUST LIKE YESTERDAY
Posted in MEMOIR, POETRY, tagged child loss, grief, neonatal death en utero, stillbirth on November 20, 2008 | 5 Comments »
A little girl, soft and delicate,
visited today.
She twisted her curls
and chased my cats.
Her tiny voice tugged
at my resisting heart
and opened the wound left by Emily;
and now, as if it were yesterday,
I cannot sleep.
Years ago,
on warm September nights like this,
I lay awake,
counting kicks and dreaming
of a dark-haired child,
dimpled and velvet-skinned;
of baby giggles
and tiny arms
wrapped tight around [...]
