Gratitude in White

Gratitude in White

Snow blankets the Washington DC area. It is one of those picture-perfect mornings when the world forces a stop to the usual. “Look at me!” she shouts delightfully in white cottony flakes. As if we could ignore her extravagant display. As if winter would pass without...
Holding Both the Good and the Bad

Holding Both the Good and the Bad

You could feel the tension in the room. The unprocessed negative emotion, like a trough of hardening concrete, sat between them on my green couch. As they both looked at me with pleading and desperate eyes to “fix this,” she gently put her hand on his leg. I slowed to...
There is No Cure

There is No Cure

There is no cure. No magic pill. No easy way.  How, our inner five-year-old wishes this were different. She or he wants to have cake and eat it too. Literally. And right now, mind you. After all, we deserve this, right? We believe – and justify – that the bricks...
House Afire

House Afire

I admit I am not the best cook. It’s a skill I never mastered. Even if I follow a recipe exactly, it never looks like the picture nor tastes as the superior adjectives in the description tells me it should. Then, there is the bonus of the smoke alarm. I can’t make...
Not-So-Unconditional Love

Not-So-Unconditional Love

Here I go again, raining on your parade. But I guess better to hear from me than from someone more important to you … Unconditional love between partners does not exist.  Because, accountability counts. It is possible to erode love, whether slowly or quickly,...