As our first-born was turning one, my husband and I grew increasingly concerned about his safety. I have three sons now, and while I supervise quite a bit these days, back then, it was more of a vigilance. Then this thing happened, this thing that threatened our safety at the very moment my husband and…
The latest issue from Longridge Review includes six skillful essays. This batch contains a haunting piece by the remarkable Risa Nye, who is so special to me. We met when she was already established and I was just sowing the seeds for a writing life. I looked up to her then and continue to admire her…
Ten, maybe more, years into our relationship, J and I traveled to southeast Asia with my sister and her husband. While they had progressed to engagement and marriage, J and I remained in our relationship: in relation to one another, relatable for each other, sometimes unable to relate. At the Bayon Temple, Angkor Thom, Cambodia,…
When I was a teenager, I committed a minor crime. I'm pretty sure it was a misdemeanor. Maybe it was as low on the pole as a petty infraction. Decades later, I come clean in a piece called "Department of Penitence." It's on the record now, in Volume 18 of The Offbeat. One of the…
Today on Edutopia, I list my 12 fundamentals of teaching and encourage other teachers to try the same exercise. I first crafted The List—which includes items like “flexibility” and “a community of mutual respect and safety”—when I started teaching an education intro course a couple of years ago. As a happy coincidence, Edutopia chose to…
