Essays: on writing, parenting & more
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Mother’s Day is Complicated
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I’m the first to recognize Mother’s Day as complicated. Invented in 1908 by Ann Jarvis to celebrate her own mother, a Sunday School teacher and caregiver of soldiers during the Civil War, Mother’s Day was co-opted by greeting card companies by 1920 and today represents a…By jbadmin|

This Earth Day, Celebrate our Ultimate Mother
This essay was originally published on Medium.com.
I set out to write a blog for Mother’s Day; all my novels, including my new one, you see, have strong maternal themes. But as I type, I’m thinking too much about Earth Day, and feeling love for our communal mother, Pacha Mama,…By jbadmin|

Small Bites of Fear Each Day
This essay was originally posted on Medium.com. I have started wondering why I like to ski so much. Yes, it is the beauty of the mountains, the fresh air, the social component, but it’s also because I regularly push myself. Every time I drop in somewhere steep or carve early…By jbadmin|

Digitally Connected: Are We Keeping Track or Trapped?
This essay was originally published on Medium.com.
The first time I did a long drive by myself, I was nineteen. It was 1985 and I drove from Dallas, TX back to college in Northampton, MA with a detour through Detroit (long story), a hot minute in Canada and some time in upstate…By jbadmin|

Wishing You Less in 2022: What’s Your New Years Priority?
As we move toward another new year, I'm considering what's a priority. On a recent Saturday afternoon, my husband and I were walking in Boston’s Back Bay and shared a stunned expression. We had a free afternoon in front of us. No plans or commitments – I hadn’t felt like that…By jbadmin|

Taking it on The Road (part three) Mother / Daughter #vanlife
This essay was originally published on Medium.com A week after selling our home of twenty years, the house in which we raised a family (and collected generations worth of bric-a-brac), I exercised my first expression of freedom — three weeks in the Pacific Northwest with our…By Jeanne|