Tag Archives: friends

personal, semester break

Something about Mary

5 Comments

One of the most memorable lessons in humility and compassion I’ve ever had was given through a woman named Mary. It was several years ago, and I was working in admissions at the local hospital.

She was an alcoholic and an addict, and was making noises from her room.

She was ignored. We were full of alcoholics and addicts that night; the ER was packed, and they were all making noises from their rooms.

When they’re going through detox, they’re all making noises from their room. And when they’re addicts and alcoholics, they’re so easily ignorable.

I remember the end part of that night like it was yesterday. It was busy; I was exhausted. I hated my job and was wondering why I was even there. I didn’t like my co-workers and I couldn’t stand the utterly superior nurses in Medical ER.

I was really, really unhappy.

But then I met Mary.

Continue reading Something about Mary →

personal

The Carpe Diem Girls

7 Comments

So I met up with the girls last night. It’s been a long time, far too long, since the three of us were together. There’s such an energy there, I get giddy just thinking about it. There is something that hums inside of me, something that seems like it’s tangible when the three of us are together. It’s present regardless of our moods, our temperaments, or our circumstances.

In Lit class, we learned about the “True” woman and the “New” woman. Granted, this was early 19th Century, but it still loosely applies today. A true woman was comprised of purity, piety, domesticity, and submission. Sounds a bit patriarchal to me, but who am I to quibble with the source? It’s been a while since we’ve covered new womanhood, but what struck me most was that it wasn’t the antithesis of these qualities, but rather the choice to enact them as they choose them.

I was hit by an image of a quilt coming home from meeting the girls. One piece of cloth being stitched to another, some more closely and, as you get away from the first piece, some further away. The needle goes in, and it pinches; it goes out, and it’s pulled.

Continue reading The Carpe Diem Girls →

college

Mike is the Rulest

4 Comments

Other than coming face to face with a possible future version of myself as a teacher, my first class back at college was pretty uneventful.

Except for the speaking thing. The thought of speaking up in class made me clench up like I was passing kidney stones. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that, in January 2006, talking in class WAS a lot like passing kidney stones. Horrifyingly painful and with a trail of blood behind it.

The next semester was better. I had a full course load and a summer off behind me.

That, and it was the semester I met Mike.

Continue reading Mike is the Rulest →

personal

Another Reason to Love Bikers

1 Comment

A toy run for the Gulf Coast:

Forget the Sleigh, Asguard Toy Run

(Is it just me, or does this not seem like the author is imploring the reader to forget both?)

And then there’s Whiskers. He’s the man that stood beside me while we watched my grandfather’s casket being lowered into the ground.

mar1.jpg

I couldn’t have asked for better company. Maynard, Mark and Me.

(photo taken by Sun Herald staff)

Journey, music

Walking to New Orleans

Leave a comment

Despite my newly found calf muscles, I doubt that I’ll be doing that much walking.

It’s been over two years since I stood outside the Monteleone on Royal Street, listening to blues and realizing that I really, really had no clue what I was going to do with my life or my fear.

Pacing and talking with the Frazzle on the phone, watching the street musicians and drunkards stumble and tumble down the street like dragonflies–darting, dipping, and rising again.

“It’s just love,” the guy with the bad breath told me.

A lie, but a convenient one, and one I thought held the answer to everything.

Continue reading Walking to New Orleans →