The door opens. A home screen. A blank document. A blinking cursor. A vast red tent. An expansive table. A seat for me. “Friendship” reads the place card. The host invites me, “Tell us a story.” And so I do.
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All articles filed in Susan Tucker
Tasting Transcendence
“How was your son’s wedding?” someone asks, and Tim and I exchange glances, hoping the other can supply adequate words. We try to describe the beauty, the goodness, and the joy of the celebration, but our words fall short for all of what our hearts are holding.
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A Good Ending
“I don’t think you’ve ever experienced a good ending,” my therapist said, as we once again discussed ending our work together. As usual, I had become weepy at the mere suggestion that it was time. A good ending? What was that? How was it even possible? He kindly assured me that we could explore my…
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A Garden’s Glory
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…
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Practicing Presence
Lying on a yoga mat, cued by the voice on the recording, I slowly inhale and exhale. I draw my attention to my body, reorienting my mind from a multitude of swirling thoughts to focused attention on my body, my breath, and this moment. Recently I’ve been taking a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction course, created…
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The Walk-Up Song
Recently my friend Addie started her sophomore year of high school. On her first day a teacher asked the students to gather in small groups and introduce themselves by sharing their walk-up song with each other. When her mom told me this, I was walking at the park, and I wondered, “What is my walk-up…
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All Shall Be Well
Last month my 88-year-old mother moved into an assisted living facility located 4.5 miles from my house. This is four miles further than we’ve lived from each other for the past nine years. While it may sound like a negligible change, it feels much more significant, for this half-mile has been traversed far more often…
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Writer’s Block
My deadline looms before me, but I have nothing to offer. Not a word. I know all I need to do is start writing, and before long, I’ll be finished, but sometimes starting seems impossibly difficult. I turn my attention from the window I’ve been gazing through to my laptop, open a new document, and…
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This Is the Day
Years ago when the boys were young and the days of parenting were long and exhausting, a phrase entered my mind one morning as I slowly swept away the drowsy cobwebs in my mind: “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” I sat on the…
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Come On In
“When you get here, just come on in. The front door is unlocked,” the text message reads. I park in the circular driveway behind the last in a row of cars. Pausing, I take a deep breath before emerging into the cool fall air. As I climb the few stairs leading to the front porch,…
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