The Name I Couldn’t Quite Pronounce
One More Time: What’s Your Name? We’ve settled in at our table, just me and this young girl from Afghanistan. I have to ask her name again. I didn’t catch…
Read moreCAPTCHA Got It Wrong About My Humanity
Choose the Things That Are Fragile I type in the message I want to leave in the comment box beneath a friend’s blog post. Then the CAPTCHA appears. You know…
Read moreSometimes Courage Looks Very Small: A Small Shift at the Airport
Is She the Same Woman? I’m at the airport in Reno on a Monday morning after a conference weekend at Lake Tahoe. I think the woman at the next table…
Read moreI Wonder If His Mama Still Wonders About Him
You see all kinds of people at the beach. Families hauling coolers and umbrellas and babies. Teenagers tossing footballs. Retirees slowly walking at the edge of the water. All kinds…
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The Day I Sat on My Hands Instead of Taking Notes
A March update on my One Word Shift
Sitting on My Hands I am in my seat in the beautiful auditorium. I’m listening intently as the poet gives her talk. Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer is speaking amazing truths. But…
Read moreWhat a Smelly Elevator Taught Me About Questioning Beliefs
The Elevator Test When the elevator door on the right opens, we immediately smell something. It stinks. It’s Monday afternoon at the apartment complex where we deliver free meals. Our…
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