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October is my birthday month -Yay! Last year, my birthday (53) was the first ‘occasion’ while I was homeless and couch surfing with friends. They were lovely. Cooked me a meal I chose, made me a cake from scratch. But I fled the table, overwhelmed by sadness and a tidal wave of all that I […]
I don’t know how my mother did it. Her entire life, she relied on other people for rides. When she was younger. she was an avid public transit user, zipping from Bethel Park around the region on trolley and bus. Once she had kids and moved to West Mifflin, things got trickier. The bus was […]
Here’s how disability pride works. I’ve been home now for over four months. That’s a significant accomplishment, one many people doubted I could manage. I think a lot of people expected me to just roll over and give up, to build something new instead of returning to claim my life of 20 years. But this […]
The world of queer relationships and queer anniversaries is complicated by the states decades of oppression of our rights to simply create a family with the person we love. For those who came of age after 2015, it may not make much sense. The queer anniversary is a complicated dynamic. We have a lot of […]
Last night, I met my mother in my dreams. She was living in a shabby chic bungalow with bright decorations and her beloved drapes gracing every window. Just as I arrived I saw her mother – my grandmother – pull out of the driveway in a practical blue sedan. I waved, but unsure if she […]
I enjoy the Generation X content across most platforms. It is funny, insightful, and nuanced. I was born in October 1970, so I am right in that solid Gen X era. The 70s were my childhood, the 80s my adolescence. Yes, I often drank water from a hose. Yes, my brother and I were left […]
My father died in February of this year. I was unable to provide him a traditional rite of passage – an obituary in our local daily paper. I clung to that void with a firm grip, turning it over in my mind to determine why it troubled me. Sadness that he was denied that final […]
This is my 15th year participating in #LGBTQFamiliesDay Monday, June 3, 2024, is the 19th Annual LGBTQ Families Day, a time to celebrate the many families with LGBTQ people in them who live in every state and almost every county of the U.S. The event aims to raise awareness of the diversity, joys, and challenges […]
This was my first holiday weekend at my home since the Fourth of July last year. I was living here over Easter, but spent that weekend cat sitting for friends. The death of our beloved cat companion Precious overshadowed everything so I have to take that into consideration. But I had no plans. Not good. […]
So I never called my mother “Mama” – we called her “Mum” – but the title of this post is also the title of her favorite movie, a 1948 drama about a Norwegian-American family in the early 20th century. My mother loved this film in all its hazy hardworking glory. Her affection led me to […]
