cultivating the beautiful ordinary by sharing our tales and our tables
Amanda, our second born, cut the thick rye bread on a cutting board across from the sink. The remnants of the bread scattered over the counter onto the floor. I bent down to sweep up the debris, and she said, “I have always felt the weight of your perfectionism.” Annie, our firstborn, and I were…
Read More
For the month of April the women of Red Tent Living will be considering the theme, Bearing Witness. Join us by reading along, and by hosting some women around your own table to share stories provoked by this theme.
Read More
When our neighbors bought the house next door nearly a decade ago, my parents quickly provided an account of this couple as if in warning. My folks were “in the know” because the new home owners were relocating from the townhouse development in which they lived just a half-mile away. Apparently this couple received multiple…
Read More
“Catholic is the same as Christian, right mom?” I stopped spreading peanut butter on the bread for the girls’ sandwiches and looked up at Libby. “That’s an interesting question. What exactly are you asking?” I could have said a simple “yes” and let it go, but I wanted to know what was behind the question.
Read More
In the 1960s charm bracelets were a trend, and teenage Mom had one full of charms. During a Thursday morning visit in December, she brought out a small silk pouch and handed it to me. She was in the dividing-up-her-jewelry stage of dying and wanted me to have her bracelet of stories, a reminder of…
Read More
Several years ago I was inspired to write a short poem based on 1 Corinthians 13:13, which states that faith, hope, and love are the three most important virtues. I’ve always preferred short poems over epic poetry because a.) I’m a slow reader, and b.) I have a short attention span. But, give me a…
Read More
“A tulip doesn’t strive to impress anyone. It doesn’t struggle to be different than a rose…Look at little children in kindergarten. They’re all different without trying to be. As long as they’re unconsciously being themselves, they can’t help but shine.” – Marianne Williamson On the last week of kindergarten, with parents and grandparents present, our…
Read More
Complex grief is the terminology I’d use to describe my 2023. That year I was in a bad car accident, my ovarian cysts caused me to bleed for three months, my mother was diagnosed with stage four cancer and passed away within six months, I was sexually assaulted at a spa, my two-year relationship ended,…
Read More
Dormancy All winter long, we surveyed our brittle yard from towering windows, biting our nails, looking at one another furtively. Bald spots like patchy beard growth dotted the hills. “What is happening?” we wondered aloud. We hoped, we prayed for germination. Under the lodgepole and ponderosa pines, where my husband on his knees scraped the…
Read More
The conversation that evening was sweet, as much a contributor to the celebration as the sumptuous meal and quiet candlelight at a favorite restaurant. My friend wanted to hear what had been significant for me in the year that was finishing and what I was looking forward to in the year ahead. As the evening…
Read More