The peace that is brought forthright is a saving grace beyond all measure. Unexpected yet needed and wanted in all those times of not knowing where it had been hiding. A moment of forgetfulness yet at the same time remembrance of what once was, has been and will always be just lying under the surface waiting patiently to be enveloped in. A lifting of the heaviness of our minds and rationalizing, of figuring out and categorizing. I remember being a kid and taking a bath in a brownish bathtub with Pocahontas in the water with me. I admired her body markings, her long black hair, and dark skin in my little 5 year old mind. We moved into another house and I remember taking baths in a pink bathtub with the paint chipping all around above me. I would turn the shapes into things that resembled something I know just as we do with clouds in the sky. I remember washing my hair and then swishing it around in the water to rinse while discovering how it felt. Silky smooth and weightless. The other night, Winslow got to feel that exact same feeling. Finally, she has begun to trust and allow herself to try something new. We moved from rinsing her hair with a cup to now having her lie down in the bath while I hold her head and run my fingers through her hair to rinse. I told her, "Your hair is silky smooth like pink ribbons" Her face lit up as she felt her hair swish all around her. She asks for me to take a picture and I do. She asks to see and says, "Wow, my hair is like silk ! My face is cute." In those moments, time did not matter. We were in time and we were living. I wasn't thinking about living, I wasn't wondering about living, I wasn't tired of living or desperate to live, we were just alive. Later, she gets dressed and starts to brush her own hair and says to me, "Mommy, my hair is as soft as a feather. Here, brush it and see." my heart then bursts with gratitude, of awe and reverence as I brush straight through her hair. Because, for so many nights before this, taking baths and brushing hair has always turned into pain and fear somehow. Whether it be from her fear of soap getting her eyes or the tangles in her hair to cry out in pain. This, that night, those moments, were sacred. And to think that all we needed was to start using bigger blobs of conditioner ! A game changer, life-saver spark of inspiration was all I needed and i will continue to have a mind opened wide enough to hear and partake with. 

The glow of a full Moon on the glass jar atop the patio brick wall

All of us wearing masks, personalized, free or given to 

A deep hurt inside witnessing your young sister lie in her bed day after day watching T.V.

The deepening of a friendship where we begin opening drawers, using the microwave and feeding each other inside both of our own homes.

The deepening of a relationship that uncovers new layers and colors with each union and shared thought

Being outside at just the right time to say Hi to your upstairs neighbor Toni whose voice is unlike any other