When I was a teenager living in the Midwest, I ate dried squid in the winter. My mom would roast the ojinguh in our fireplace while cups of Swiss Miss hot cocoa grew cold waiting on a coffee table close by. Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus sat on our mantel above the fireplace where she … Continue reading My Mom’s Love Letter: Ojinguh over Fire
I have these memories of my mom making hand motions while singing San Toki, Toki Ya when I was sad or right before I went to sleep as a little girl. She would hold one arm up to symbolize a horizontal path and then prop her other hand behind it with her first two fingers peeking … Continue reading God Sings Over Me in My Mother’s Language
The summer I turned five, my parents emptied our home into brown boxes and scattered loose items throughout our garage and driveway for a summer garage sale. Strangers pulled up and parked around our cul-de-sac in small clusters and made their way in and out of our garage in waves. I watched them browse and … Continue reading Transitions are Storytellers
I remember how the fear would thicken at night. After “lights out” I would lie still, wondering if tonight was the night I wouldn’t be afraid. Seconds later I would be under my sheets, the heat of my breath warming my face. I longed for cool air on my cheeks. I longed to be free … Continue reading For the Ones in Hiding
Yesterday the clumps of unremarkable leaves that line the side of our front walkway were suddenly sprinkled with periwinkle. Our Woodland Phlox had begun to flower. I am struck with how startled I was to see them again. Although I’d become tired of the plain brownish-green stumps of plants they had been for months now, … Continue reading Listen to the Flowers
