Category: resilience
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Hold On
I’m blessed to have known all four of my grandparents. Poppy Sykes was larger than life, a creative soul whose good-natured pranks made strangers double over with laughter. Grandpa Booker had a gentle spirit and strong hands that worked farmland and mastered carpentry. Before her winter years, Grandma Booker created the most delectable cuisine with…
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Nah-nah-nee-boo-boo

Sometimes, I still say nah-nah-nee-boo-boo. If you don’t know, nah-nah-nee-boo-boo is like a punctuation mark among kids. It’s used to tease or one-up someone else. As in, “I’VE got some ice cream, nah-nah-nee-boo-boo!” Or, “I’m going skaaaaating, nah-nah-nee-boo-boo!” In any case, being on the receiving end of nah-nah-nee-boo-boo usually means pouting faces and frustration.…
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Carry On

Just the other day – and completely uninvited – COVID showed up and ordered me around for almost a week. My usual to-do list started collecting dust. I could feel the weight of unmet deadlines getting heavier on my mind. As much as I wanted to do, my body would only let me be. Be…
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Still Here

Dad slipped away quietly one year ago today. And, oh, how I miss him. I remember that day in vivid detail. The steady rain. The chill in the air. How I knew he’d passed when hospice’s number appeared on my phone screen. How I let it go to voicemail because I was taking our teen…
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Running

Sooooo, is it just me, or has 2024 arrived with some sass and major attitude? As 2023 faded away, I had high hopes that the new year would at least try to be on Santa’s Nice List for 2024. At least start out on the good foot (nod to The Godfather of Soul James Brown).…
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A Fond Farewell

As the youngins say, life be lifing. But, it’s still life. And, this year often reminded me that life is such an incredible gift.
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Tough Cookie

My dad is, as one of my aunts calls it, a tough little knot. A real tough cookie. At 85 years young, his resilience and sense of humor are fully intact. He wakes up each day happy as a clam. And that’s despite being a reluctant widower; dementia creeping its way in; and painful arthritis…