facingthegrey

I can see her in my mind’s eye — sitting in the wing back chair (the one that now sits in my own living room) next to the Christmas tree, holding a present…her finger nail slid carefully under one taped fold. She’s not looking down at it, she’s looking at the giver, my sister, with … More “I just want to savor it!”

The weeks after my mom died, my sisters and I started a group facebook messenger chat that we more or less have used every day since, just to check in with each other. Over the years, it’s felt like a lifeline to me. We’ve developed our own sort of language and short hand for talking … More #momvoid (a mother’s day post…kind of)

“Tyler”, the president of the college’s secret Lesbian, Gay, Straight, Transgender, and Queer/Questioning student alliance, sat across from me at my desk. “We’re protesting”, he said. “Next week, in chapel. Will you help?” “What are you planning on doing?” I asked, immediately feeling apprehensive. He took a deep breath. “As soon as they start, we’re … More Not with words, but with actions

It happened to me in my very first real job I ever had out of graduate school. I wasn’t sexually assaulted, like 1 in 3 women in this country, but I was sexually harassed, like 99.999999% of women in the world. It was graduation. I was hot and sweating, because as faculty, during the graduation … More A story about a “nice, Christian man”

I would like to again welcome my sister, Leah Shaw, who you saw in the Eulogy for My Mother post last year. Mom would have been 63 today. We miss her. Also, grief is wierd, and messy, and never final at all. This is a window into both the life, and death, of our mother. … More Mommage

I’ve tried to figure out something to say about this election, but the last few days I’ve felt like a fish on a dock–reeled in, hooked by the mouth, gills gasping for air. I didn’t realize I would be this upset by this outcome…but I am. The things that I have heard from my black and … More A “sermon” for myself

This is the eulogy for my mother from her funeral service. It was written by myself and my two sisters, and spoken by Leah and I. I wanted to post it to share some of my sweet mama’s life lessons to us, and for those who might have wanted to be there, but couldn’t. Erin … More Life Lessons from my Mother: A Eulogy

Given that I have worked at two colleges in the past decade, I am facebook friends with a lot of current and former students–many of them are African-American. Yesterday, compared to times when there was media coverage of shootings involving white cops and black men, I saw more collective and individual anger than I have … More Aftermath