“Memory is the scribe of the soul.”
– Aristotle
After twenty-five anniversaries of the tragedy of 9-11, we have absorbed the shock and horror of that day, although maybe not entirely. We have responded, as America does, with military might and resolve. We have played back the video of the burning and penetrated buildings, the fireball, the falling bodies, and the utter and gray…
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…
