"if you're lucky enough to find a way of life you love, you have to find the courage to live it" John Irving
Seven years ago, Maile and I had just gone through one of the most difficult holidays of our young lives. I had just turned 33. We had walked away from a failing business, left a community we loved, …
Continue Reading about What I Discovered in an Old Christmas Video From 2009 →
It’s strange, driving down a back road through farm country in October when the corn has been harvested and the trees are changing color. And it’s 85 degrees. My mind and body are connected to this …
From the time I was six years old until I was around ten, my family lived in a great, sprawling farmhouse with a covered front porch and two huge oak trees in the front yard. There was a garden and …
Continue Reading about When I Slept Under the Bed (Or, The Importance of “Hiddenness”) →
Back in early June, I sent my literary agent a text. We were expecting to hear a final decision from the publisher on Tuesday. It was Wednesday. I felt like so much depended on this. So many years. So …
Continue Reading about My 17-Year Journey to a Book Deal (or, Keep Going) →
I drive the truck faster, weaving past cars on the city streets. I nearly pull out in front of someone and hit my brakes. We are 35 minutes from the birth center, and Maile’s labor has started. I stop …
Continue Reading about Like Breath Over Still Water: The Arrival of a Baby →
Maile exhales in her sleep. The window that looks out onto James Street is open, the summer air still against the screen. Maile stirs in bed, pulls a pillow in under her belly, under our baby yet …
Continue Reading about Under My Hand, the Softest Splinter (or, Hope, Even Now) →
