The halls of the courthouse are painted this drab green that makes you wonder what kind of person makes those kinds of decisions for a public building and doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in government. With few exceptions, there are no wall decorations, no picture frames, save maybe a scant poster about employee rights. If you […]
Trump Will Not Leave Office Alive
That is to say, he does not intend to ever have to step down or stop serving as President of the United States. And as outlandish a statement that may seem to those of us who still want to believe in and hope that our sacred norms and traditions remain sacred, the writing is already […]
The End of Democracy
It was my third grade homeroom teacher in Tennessee who spoke about the great melting pot or salad mixer. Or maybe the Cub Scout trip to the local courtroom for a civics lesson toward a merit badge to see the judicial branch at work. It was my Sunday school teacher taking her confirmation class to […]
In the Event of My Violent Death
This is an admittedly sobering and macabre piece for which I am providing a trigger warning of sorts given the discussion of violence and death herein. Though it’s personal on some level, I don’t really see this as something I am writing about me but rather something I am writing about my hopes for our […]
In the Juggle Between Life & Death
I wonder if people enmeshed in palliative care become desensitized to death the way those of us who work in human rights do after we’ve seen so many awful things humans tend to do to one another. Our fights for justice, I think, are sometimes one step removed from the human face of it, because […]
Learning to Embrace Impermanence
I’ve taken lately to watching videos of my sweet puggle, Daisy Mae, as a way of coping with her death. We live in this world now where we record or take a snapshot of nearly every moment of our loved ones. In Daisy’s passing, I’m glad for it. It brings back memories I’d nearly forgotten. […]
On Grieving My Sweet Puggle, Daisy Mae
I haven’t yet found the energy or wherewithal to throw out her toys. Or doggy bed. There’s a bag of food still in the fridge and I’ve been avoiding opening the door so I don’t have to look at it. This morning as I stood at the top of the stairs, the sun was beaming […]
Ode to Daisy Mae
I always loved how, whenever a dog would meet Daisy Mae – our fifty-two pound puggle – they were always a little beside themselves. Even the little, ugly muts that bark at everything and won’t shut up somehow managed to stop in their tracks and look at her like, “What am I supposed to do […]
Reflections on Holy Week
Someone told me today this is “Holy Week,” that Easter is this Sunday, and it caught me off-guard. There was a time very recently when, not only would that have been incredibly pertinent to my life, but my work would have revolved around the whole week in some way or another. Nowadays, it couldn’t be […]
An Open Letter to Buzz Aldrin, or at least to myself
Recently, I had a friend pass along the personal email address of Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon. It being the 50th anniversary of the moon landing in July, I’ve been reading up on Buzz – who seems like a completely, lovable curmudgeon. So, naturally, I did the annoying thing and […]
