“Memory is the scribe of the soul.”
– Aristotle
My favorite song is “I Can See Clearly Now.” The Jimmy Cliff version. Once when my niece and I were belting out this song in my car, I realized she was singing one of the lyrics wrong. Instead of “I can see all obstacles in my way,” she sang “I can see all popsicles in…
I have always disliked balloons. Whenever I received one as a child, I held onto the string too tightly in fear of it blowing away—aloft and irretrievable. I loathed the sudden sound of it popping when someone at a party, usually a boy, played around too closely—or too mischievously—with a safety pin. I disliked the…
In 1969, Virginia Scott, a Charlottesville resident, sued the University of Virginia in federal court for admittance to the College of Arts & Sciences. Her actions made it possible for me to attend the same university just fourteen years later. I never knew her name or heard her story. Until now. As a graduate from…
Some historical figures seemed to have figured out early in life what their purpose on this earth was meant to be. And then they pursued that purpose with dogged determination. Mary McLeod Bethune was one of these people. Not deterred by the social circumstances or lack of money or being told no, Mary plowed ahead…
Every family has their quirky Christmas traditions. My family has too many traditions to list here. But one in particular has stood the test of time…matching Christmas PJs. Knowing this tradition was merely a prompt for my mother to take photos, we all (mostly) complied with the requisite holiday cheer. As kids, we knew we’d…
My heart goes out to the residents of Maui who lost loved ones and livelihood, pets and property in this week’s fire. To have witnessed one’s own community go up in flames must have been so horrific. Seeking shelter in the ocean or abandoning a car to scramble from the flames must have been terrifying….
