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The punches you can hardly catch
Her hunched back and distant gaze are a heartbreaking sight. Not the mom I grew up watching; the fast-paced, sharp, almost intimidating force of energy who could walk into a room and either fix your life or tell you exactly why it was falling apart. Or usually both, honestly. If you had told me in ’99 that by ’25 my mom would be a dependent version of herself, I would’ve laughed in your face. Loudly. Probably insulted you, too. Called you crazy…or maybe worse. She was the brain of the family. Honestly, I’d go as far as saying she was the brain of her entire friend group — everyone’s unofficial…
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Best worst years?
When you reflect on the past, do you think of the best and worst years of your life? I do. And for the latter, I can easily think of three, one of which we all have in common — 2020. The second is irrelevant for this post, and the third is [drum roll] 2023. All year, until this month, I’ve felt like a specimen for the continuous study of Murphy’s Law (if there’s one). Literally everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong…and for almost 12 months. I want you to picture that for me. A journey so incredible I have to document it. Essentially, this is how the year…
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Major Things I Learned from my Mother
“What if Mother remarried? Would you accept it?” “No way, are you crazy?” It was more of a nod than spoken words; a fast nodding “NAH”. Unthinkable. Despicable. Unacceptable. What was so insulting or sacred about it? (Nothing.) Did Mother not deserve to be happy? (Of course she did.) But the thought of having an outsider in the house was distressing. I didn’t think for a second (maybe because I couldn’t articulate it) about her happiness. It was not my mother’s style, I much later learned. But there was my optimistic sister taking a poll — and I guess she thought it’d be a fantastic idea to ask a 12-year-old…
