Posts

And We Will Rise Up

What a year it has been, right?  Incalculable loss. Never ending uncertainty. Political turmoil. Economic collapse. Social isolation. And, a global pandemic.  As January drags on, I find myself continuously dwelling on all of it. And I find myself falling further and further into the gravitational pull of this black hole of worry, hopelessness, and despair. (My Seasonal Affective Disorder definitely doesn't help either).  Maybe you also find yourself struggling to break free of this chain of thought. Maybe you too are simply feeling weary and can't wait for it all to end. Maybe you feel like you just can't...period.  But, friends, we will rise up .  This is not the end. We are not out of gas. We are not on empty. Time and time again the human spirit has overcome the challenges the world has presented. Time and time again we've seen individuals overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Time and time again we have seen ourselves persevere through difficult time...
Post a Comment
Read more

Flip Me Over, I'm Done on This Side

As the leaves start to change and Pumpkin Latte signs populate Starbucks windows, I like to always take a little time to grieve the passing of my favorite season - summer.  There is something about summer that I just positively love.  If you've met me in person, you have likely heard me go on and on and on about summer... I will spare you all.  As I say good bye to summer, I also am saying good bye to my little red tabletop charcoal grill.  Or at least saying, "See you later!"  (Mad props to all those charcoal grill masters who grill through Fall.  I raise my tongs to you.)  Memorial Day 2019 was my first attempt not just at using my little baby grill, but at using any  charcoal grill.  I had previously learned the art of grilling on a gas grill - spurred on by the need to make burgers for all my Mount friends during Senior Week down the Jersey shore (none of us knew how to grill, so it resulted in me calling home and having my mom talk ...
Post a Comment
Read more

If You Were Here

I've been reflecting on the deaths I have experienced in my life.  Death, and the grief that follows, is an isolating experience. Even though others are experiencing the same loss, even they seem like outsiders.  They had a different  relationship with that person.  And, their loss looks and feels different.  Not only was their relationship different, but their personality and the way they individually grieve is different.  It is in the midst of this difficult time that the world feels completely other.  While you feel like things will never be the same, the world and all your friends continue on, as if this life altering event doesn't even stretch to touch the confines of their life. Then time goes on, we grieve, we heal, and we "get on" with our lives.  Sometimes that takes a couple months, sometimes a few years. But, if you're like me, you never forget.  I still remember very distinctly those experiences of loss, those moments, those f...
Post a Comment
Read more

Jamaica Plain, I love you.

Dear Jamaica Plain, Leaving you feels like the bittersweet moment of college graduation.  There's the excitement to move onto the next thing, but also the sadness of leaving a place that has become so dear.  The beginning of my time in Boston was a rough one, but you were always there for me.  Your people were kind and friendly.  Your green space, plentiful.  Your bars were homey and, most definitely, one of a kind.  You gave me the city, but you also gave me the suburbs - all in one.  You provided me with some of the dearest running friends.  You gave me a quiet place to pray, that was unlocked throughout the day.  You gave me the Turkey & Brie sandwich.  The Eliot School House where I played soccer with the ladies of 7P for my first birthday that I celebrated in Boston.  My little spot at the Pond where I would read for hours during the summers. I remember the day I fell in love with you.  I had already accepted the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Modern Womanhood and My Moment in It

"Thirty, flirty, and thriving..."  The wish that Jenna uttered on her "disastrous" 13th birthday in 13 Going on 30  ...and the wish that came true when some magic dust flutters onto her head... (Shout out to my OLHC girls who watched that movie a million times with me). There was something magical (even without the magic dust) about the idea of being 30 when I was younger.  It was the age when I was supposed to have life figured out - an illustrious career, a man I love, friends who have been with me on the journey for years.  But now, as I am only a few short months away from my 30th birthday, I feel like all of my original hopes and dreams are no where close to being realized, and I am left wondering, "Where's my fairy tale ending?" While in the eyes of the world, I may have achieved success - I am after all a Senior Project Manager/Producer for a Video Marketing Agency at the age of 29, after quickly climbing the ladder in 3 short years. Yet, wh...
Post a Comment
Read more

Relax

"Relax." A command so often given, Advice so often dispensed. "Drop the 'shoulds'" Isn't that in and of itself a "should"? My intensity, my drive is so often guided By this misguided direction, end game. The perfect Catholic. Who is she and what should she look like? How do I become her? How does she live and who is she friends with? What kinds of conversations does she have? Where does she spend her time? Relax. Relax?  But shouldn't I be driving, striving for perfection? An objective, a destiny, a destination. The saints, I'm mimicking. There are only so many hours in a day Heaven seems forever away! Let me attain it, let me work for it, let me hustle, and bustle. Here I am a flurry of activity, so busy you can't see me. Does anyone see me? Lord, you know when I sit and stand When I run, when I pray, when I fast, when I work, when I go, go, go. It's all for you, Jesus.  I promise. It's got nothing ...
Post a Comment
Read more

An Ode to Fall Train Rides

Fall train rides. Beautiful colors whirring past As the train horn blares Beware, here we come, I'm on my way! To and fro That's where you go All the while seeing the places you pass
Post a Comment
Read more