Photo of Nick Cave by by photographer Detlev Schneider My heart carries too much grief. My daughter’s constant struggle with her illness. The loss of dear friends, those who died from AIDS in the 1990’s and those I’ve lost to cancer now. The loss of my husband to...
Photo by Ketut Subiyanto I have recently moved out of a large house in Silicon Valley to a bedroom in the East Bay. I hear this is called “downsizing”. As I packed and moved my stuff and now unpack it all, I’ve discovered that downsizing means more...
Christmas has always been challenging for me, probably because we’re all supposed to be so happy! The holiday spirit is about joy and child-like wonder and no one is allowed to be sad. Sadness equals “Bah Humbug.” So here I was, facing Christmas...
This is the first Holiday Season Rhia and I have spent apart since she was born. She and I have decorated 28 Christmas trees together. The tree is up but her ornaments are still in the box. I hung my David Bowie ornament and a few others but haven’t added a...
I was revising my author bio when I suddenly stopped. “Author, Teacher, Caregiver…” Wait. I’m not a caregiver anymore. I have identified as my daughter’s caregiver for almost 30 years. But she moved out to live in a group home where other...
photo by Tymn Urban, Urban Media and Design I submitted my book to She Writes Press and waited several weeks for the answer. And then I got the email… Dear Terena, Thank you so much for your submission and congratulations on passing through our two-tier...
