Stitches and words—that’s how we came together and what we had in common besides Karla and Richard and Kortney and Derek. But they came later. In the beginning, it was just stitches and words. The first time I came face-to-face with Sherry was the doorway of her home. We had just purchased a house next to Central Park, and I had my heart set on custom-made balloon shades for my kitchen and breakfast area. No one was shy to tell me that Sherry Tulk was the only soul in Artesia, New Mexico who could tackle anything nearly as sophisticated as…
Going Gracefully
The art of letting go is a delicate skill. I don’t believe anyone comes into the world knowing how to “hold and release.” Letting go is a choice. It is learned, and very rarely does the one making the release get to practice before the test. Nine times out of ten, it’s a matter of swallowing the un-swallowable and prying a body part lose—whether finger-by-finger or heart-string-by-string. Letting go gracefully is a paradox among virtues. In every other instance of life—at least all the instances that I care about, passion is the key: the act of caring enhances your ratio…
The Place to Begin
At the bottom of each individual, I truly believe that every one of us has a good heart in common. Maybe it has been obscured or protected by scars, but the original seed of optimistic hope remains. There is something else we have in common—words. We use them every day for every purpose from comfort to weapons. For many of us, they are the tools of our trade, and I have personally been in love with them since I was old enough to understand that the magical thing my mother was sharing with me was called a book. Words are…
Turn the Knob
I recently moved and purchased a house that was promising, but in need of a few touches to look and feel 100% like me. A few of the changes were actually needed. A few others were wanted, but the most extraneous adjustment that I made was to replace the front door. There was nothing wrong with the old one. It was windowless, dark wood, rather plain. By my standards, a door should represent what’s beyond. After all, it does signify a beginning or end… to a visit, a nesting, an effort for connection to someone, something “yonder”—all important, at least…
Geniuses Unaware
I have had four, large dogs in my home for more than three weeks. Two of them are my own, a ten year old Siberian Husky and a Belgian Tervuren barely more than a puppy. The other two are visitors, another long-haired Siberian and a Samoyed the same age as the Terv. I have long acknowledged that all four are beautiful and remarkable dogs. I have had and been around dogs all of my life. I wouldn’t want to live in a household without them, but I admit that four are almost more personality than one roof can cover. Their…
