Stirrings of spring
Last spring, I had a startling sense of clarity after engaging in the simple contemplative practice of picking up sticks. A year later, I returned to the site of this epiphany. What happened? I picked up sticks. Pretty anticlimactic, huh? On the surface, yes. I walked, scanned the yard, picked up sticks, carried them to the fire…
Ghost Writer
Aunt Justine was known for writing eulogies for family and friends, so I wasn’t too surprised that she wrote part of her own: Hello, my name is Justine Leonard. For most of my working career, I was a ghost writer, the voice and second banana for many of Milwaukee’s movers and shakers. To drop a few names:…
Love Stories
I remember my first Valentine’s Day as a newlywed; this was more than thirty years ago. I had to travel for business that week, but my return flight was the afternoon of February 14th, so my husband, Mark, who loves to cook, was planning a special fondue dinner. As I flew back to Chicago, the pilot announced,…
grief and freedom
I stepped out of my car, scanned the front yard and breathed. I sensed that the yard was breathing with me. When I left the retreat house last fall, the lawn was completely covered in leaves. I had tried to clear them during my stay, but the more I raked, the more the leaves came down and…
Live Fully
My mom would have turned 86 today. This morning, I awoke to a 49-degree temperature, threw on several layers of clothing, and rode my bike to Lake Michigan in the dark. (Don’t worry, Mom! My bike is equipped with cool, blinking lights!) As I approached Montrose Beach, I was joined by hundreds of people. They were clearly…