“It’s time for an adventure,” he said. And I, facing an empty nest and the instant revision of my job description as a mother, answered… “Hell yeah.” My adventuresome self had been hibernating during the rearing of four cubs. There were years of policing and keeping them safe; reflexively spouting “be careful” or “watch out” and the mother ...
(cont) This last flight leg is a small prop plane. We are delayed an hour and by the time almost everyone has boarded, a family straggles on. They are Pakistani from what I can tell. They are exhausted, two kids in tow, one an infant and the other about three. I silently close my eyes and recite the airplane mantra. “Please don’t let them sit near ...
Flying to San Francisco from LA, the security guard takes a little too much extra time examining the X-ray picture of my bag and asks to see my liquids. As the man prods my bag I can feel my butt cheeks clench together, my muscles tighten and I hold my breath as if that extra oomph might help the bag pass inspection. Please don’t unzip my tightly ...
I have misread the schedule in Detroit. There is no down time before events and I have not arrived in my “media outfit.” I have not even showered as I had thought we were going to the hotel. The girlfriend-like media escort appears excited to see me. The book business in Detroit has slowed with the economy and the automotive downturn. We stop for ...
Despite all the challenges of being on the road, there are amazing moments, incredible people, who will give pieces of themselves to me without even knowing it. There is the arresting sound of Tricia Thompson’s trach tube clearing as she sits, dignified in her wheelchair during a brain injury fundraiser in Kansas City. The story I heard of the Vietnam ...