What Happened When I Spent Christmas Eve in a Basement with a Crazy Cat

Photo by Dorien Monnens on Unsplash

It was Christmas Eve, 2013, and I was scooping poop from a litter box in my neighbors’ basement. Leticia and Dana had rescued a feral kitten whose new habitat extended from the hot water heater to the washer/dryer. Although it was icy outdoors and toasty within, this foster feline wasn’t buying into her rehabilitation. But I was. I was three months sober. That’s how my piece for the now dismantled Fix starts. If you’re curious to read how I got through that holiday season newly separated from my husband while also recommitting to my recovery from alcohol, you can read the rest here.

Return to Sender: What An Unsent Postcard Taught Me About Addiction

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Has anything ever happened to you, so expertly timed, that it made you doubt it was mere coincidence? This past summer I had such an eerily aligned experience. I found a postcard from my twenty-five-year-old self—a greeting that I’d written and addressed to my friend in Paris, sandwiched here instead, within a box of blank postcards. No postage, never mailed. Reading it now, 29 years later, I felt inspired to articulate the emotions sparked by that 4”x 6” card. I am honored to now present Return to Sender: What an Unsent Postcard Taught me about Addiction my first piece published in Beautiful Hangover. You can read it here.

Eight

Photo by Emmanuel Holveck--Lafay from Pexels

I wonder if you’re like me when it comes to past birthdays? If so, there are one or two that emerge from the mists of time and shine in your memory with crystal ball clarity. For me it was a Halloween party, and my last birthday celebrated in New Orleans, before my family up and moved to New York City. I remember everything about that one, from the invitations to the after-party. And I am thrilled and honored to be able to present Eight now, my first piece published in Global City Review, which you can read here. I hope this spooky bit of memoir floats you back to some fond haunts of your own. And I hope you read everything else in this issue, I am!

This Very Good Time

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“This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it.”

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

For years now I’ve puzzled over this quote taped to the inside of my spice cupboard, alongside other inspirations. I’ve always liked it, but now it’s starting to make sense too.

That’s how my latest piece, self-published on both my mommy blog Mush and on Medium starts. You can read the rest here. 

Sober Reflections from the Dance Floor

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“I got sober here almost thirty years ago. That’s what struck me last December 31, as I danced my butt off in the basement of St. Anthony of Padua’s Roman Catholic Church on Sullivan Street in New York City, welcoming in the New Year with a mob of sober drunks. Yes, here I was dancing under the influence of something more heady than Moet this New Year’s Eve, surrounded by mylar waterfall curtains, and the familiar pull down shades of AA’s Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, changing color with every turn of the disco ball.” That’s how my piece for the now dismantled The Fix starts. If you’re curious to know why I find it so satisfying to move to the beat—clean and sober—you can read the rest at Sober Reflections from the Dance Floor.

No Pink Roses

In No Pink Roses, my second story appearing in The Good Men Project, I reflect on a Mother’s Day where I let go of expectation, and appreciated what was left.

Is It Still Okay To Be Picky In Your Fifties?

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Are you too picky in choosing mates? It’s good to ask this question at any age. Explore possible answers to this one, and nine other related questions, in Is It Still Okay To Be Picky In Your Fifties, my third publication in P.S. I Love You, on Medium.

Essential Business: Ajwa Grocery Carries On

Essential Business: Ajwa Grocery Carries On

What’s it like to supply a community in crisis with milk, meat, produce and precious atta—the whole wheat flour used in making that staple of Southeast Asian households: chappati, or griddle bread? It’s hard, but it’s handled with generosity and grace by these tireless Pakistani grocers, inshallah! Read how one manager, two butchers and a shelf-stocker allow Ajwa Grocery to perform great community service in time of great need.