I See What You Meme

As the media reeled this week with stories of disaster in Oklahoma, I was especially touched by a story I heard on NPR last Thursday .  The Phillips family knows what it is like to experience loss.  In 1999, they lost their home to another tornado that hit the Moore area.  They rebuilt two miles away only to see their home destroyed by this latest natural disaster.  An aerial view of some of the Moore, Oklahoma destruction. (Source) The entire family is safe and sound. Nobody was hurt. Nobody died. But they have essentially lost everything.  A hall closet filled with linens seems to be the only structure that escaped the scene relatively unscathed.  As I listened to this family speak with cracking voices, you could hear that combination of resilience and sadness that inhabits those who grieve.  Rena Phillips told the NPR reporter, " I ran last time, I'm not running again," she says. "It's like why run? You know I still had a little fear, but God...

Last week, Roger and I had a rare date opportunity so we actually got to see a movie. In the theater.   What a treat! We seized the chance to see the latest Iron Man flick.  It is rare that we miss a superhero movie. Admittedly, some sequels are better than others ( Batman and Robin , anyone?) but it's tough to screw up a good superhero story and the latest crop has had a good track record. Iron Man 3 was no exception. It had just the right balance of action, violence, romance, callbacks to previous films, and hints of what is probably to come in the forthcoming Avengers sequel.  Here is what I didn't expect: apparently Tony Stark and I have a few things in common. No, it's not the endless supply of revenue.  It isn't the supersonic brain that slips into hyperdrive and invents objects that in the "real world" would be worthy of a Nobel Prize. It isn't even his ability to charm the pants (literally) off of most members of the opposite sex.  Our commo...

What a week! It's hard to believe that last week at this time, we were all oblivious to the crazy events that would unfold.  First there was the earth-shattering news of the Boston Marathon bombings on Monday, followed closely by the Ricin-laced envelopes sent to President Obama and a Mississippi Senator.  Then, a fertilizer factory in West, Texas decimated a tiny town with barely 2700 people.  While we were trying to take all of this in, Boston was shut down for essentially two days as events we previously only witnessed in Jason Bourne movies played out on our television sets.  By the end of the week, my friends and I were emotionally exhausted and we were not even living in the cross-hairs of all this drama. We were merely spectators of unspeakable and unimaginable tragedy. When tragedy strikes, it is easy to think of everything that has gone wrong. You think of the sadness, the senseless violence. You think of lives that were changed in an instant.  I fo...

Here we are at Holy Week.  What a crazy Lenten Season this has been.  There is a new Pope on the block . Although I'm not Catholic, the transition seems to have implications across faiths and around the world and Pope Francis is an interesting guy, to say the least.   Sometimes, you just gotta go for the grilled cheese with fresh tomato and basil.  I gave up french fries and soda for Lent.  It was a good choice because I found myself falling into bad habits with my eating and those are two things that can be vices for me.  I only cheated once.  I really really  wanted a grilled cheese sandwich at this restaurant in Charlottesville and there were no "side substitutes".  Yes, I know I could have just not eaten the fries .  I cheated.  I will say 2 Rosaries and 3 Hail Marys.  Oh yeah. I'm not Catholic. In all seriousness, though, my view on Lenten sacrifice is that whatever habit I choose as my focus, whether it is giving up...

I often feel that February is the longest month.   I realize that in terms of actual  days, it takes up the smallest space on the calendar.  However, February is the last full month of winter. For those of us who live in the land of seasons, it can be dark, cold, wet, and downright gloomy.  The seasonal cheer of Christmas is far behind us.  Valentines day is done.  The season of Lent is upon us, so for Christians, this is a time of sacrifice and reflection.  The days can drag on. It is around this time every year that I feel the itch of spring.  The Earth is feeling it as well.  Our bulbs are inching their way to the surface.  The leaves are making their final free-falls from some of our trees in an effort to make space for new buds and leaves. The stores are filling with Easter baskets, pastel dresses, and (heaven forbid!) bathing suits.  We have days where the temperature barely pushes 45 degrees.  On other days, we are...

I found myself reminded this week of some of my favorite and most popular pieces of writing. Life couldn't get much busier these days so I use that as my excuse and apologize in advance for this post.  This, my friends, is a clip show.   I was thrilled to see Hello Grief  re-post one of my pieces over the weekend. (I'm not the only one who uses reruns.) I have to admit that this is one of my favorite grief analogies, even though I practically tripped over it in the process. I was also thrilled to read this Huffington Post article  regarding Chick-fil-A's turnaround stance in their use of funds toward anti-gay initiatives.  My piece in Richmond Mom  citing my thoughts on the subject last July was one of the website's top articles of 2012. This development gives me new hope for waffle fries in my future.   My thoughts have also been on Downton Abbey this week.  I won't give away any spoilers for those still catching up but I related o...

I got to spend the last week in Florida.  Yes, for those of you reading my blog in Virginia or other frigid climates, you are allowed to be a tad jealous.  Even though the evenings were cool, I got by with a sweater. And I walked on the beach almost every day.   It all ends tomorrow.   Overall, I had a great time with friends and family.  I spoke at my hometown library to a crowd of over 60 people and also presented to a great Girl Scout troop run by an old childhood friend. After all of that, I had a chance for some rest and relaxation.   I did have a few realizations during my trip. I have become the queen of reminiscence. I think I drove Roger crazy with stories of "there used to be a huge hotel in this spot" and "back when I was a kid, nothing was built out here" and "I remember when...".  Yeah, I'm getting older.  There is a mixture of feelings in watching your hometown change, especially when you don't live there all the time.  ...