Tag Archives: fear

I Teach Her What to Fear

The Pivot

14 Replies

This is the stairwell between the first floor of my hospital and the basement, the route that leads to the cafeteria. In 20 years, I’ve been down these stairs thousands of times. They get repainted every few years and the non-skid safety strips are checked and replaced. This stairwell is mostly used by staff, so it’s not the prettiest–all fluorescent lights and workaday beige.

Maybe it was because I’ve been so contemplative lately, or maybe just that I was walking to lunch alone instead of talking to a friend, but today I had to stop and….stare. Notice anything?

It’s OK to stair.

Every bottom stair has a worn out place. Why is that ONE SPOT worn away when the rest of the stairs are fine?

Couple of reasons:

It’s the lowest point. No matter if you start out at the top of the stairs walking to the left or right, if you’re in a crowd or alone, if you stop to hold the door for others, by the time you get to that lowest step, you’re in single file. Nobody’s swinging wide to go around a blind corner. Like cows in a chute, we arrange ourselves into an orderly pace and space to take that corner. We draw closer to the wall, to make ourselves safe from whatever might be barreling around the blind turn. Or we make ourselves small to keep from barreling around the corner.

It’s the spot where you pivot. Halfway down the stairwell, you have to switchback. One hundred and eighty degree turn in the opposite direction. Our graceful bodies teeter on that narrow bottom step, then without even thinking about it, all our weight shifts onto the ball of the foot and with an elegant little swing of the hips we change direction. But pivoting our entire body weight on about a 1-inch spot in the sole creates a lot of pressure. It’s far more pressure to change the direction in which we’re moving.

Everybody’s doing it. Every foot that takes those stairs hits THAT spot. Over a few weeks, hundreds of thousands of feet use that stairwell and because we are creatures of habit, every foot hits that spot. THAT SPOT. The total surface area of the stairs is irrelevant, because not every square inch is used equally. It’s that ONE SPOT that takes the beating.

And I guess I had to stop myself from crying in the stairwell because that little worn-out spot called to me. We have so much in common right now, that little spot and me. I’ve been at my lowest for the last few months, clinging to the wall and hesitant about going around the corner. Life is forcing me to pivot. I’m going in one direction then BAM…a 180 is required. And it seems that everybody’s doing that. Raise your hand if you’re feeling ground down and a little dizzy from the switching back and forth.

Even with 195 drafts in my folder, I couldn’t bring myself to write for an entire month. And this story right here might be in the bottom 10% of my output over the last four years. Look at that photo…terrible! How am I going to SEO this post about hospital basement linoleum and depression?

I tried to learn more about the idea behind the worn out pivot, but that led me down a rabbit hole of Newtonian mechanics and Pinterest boards for best patterned carpets to hide wear on your stairs.

So this drab picture of a scuffed up spot on a basement stairwell is what I’ve got for today. I wrote about it because it made me feel something. If you’ve read this far, please accept my apologies. I’m sorry that I made you read this drivel, and I’m even more sorry that I haven’t trusted you with the stuff that’s clanging around in my head. But here we are at the bottom, so it’s time to pivot.

See you soon.

The Least of These: Refugees and Thanksgiving

18 Replies

I went to bed last night filled to weeping with what I’d seen on social media about the governor of my state, along with many others, declaring that we would not accept any Syrian refugees after the Paris attacks. I thought of my friend Robin and how she once explained Jesus to me: she just shut her mouth and spread her arms open wide.

That’s what love is supposed to look like. You need shelter, come to me. You need safety, come to me. You need to know you are loved, come to me. We’re becoming a frightened nation with our arms clasped tight. What happened to Lady Liberty–a gift from the French, no less–holding her torch high to light the way?

I am proud to be an American because we are the place of refuge. Our population–unless your folks were First Nations or brought over on a slave ship–is made up of people who sought out America for shelter, or safety, or freedom. Many of those new-made Americans were fleeing horrors. Maybe pogroms or the potato blight or poverty.

I remember going to Ellis Island and walking through the process. Through the long line for validating papers. Up the stairs to the medical check. Then summoned before the desk of the final questioner who made the call as to whether you would proceed forward to the door that led to America or whether you would be put on a boat back. What must that have felt like, to come so far then have the door slammed in your face? No room at the inn.

A family on the road.

Brace yourselves–the atheist is about to start talking about the Bible and we all have Grandmama Eunice to thank for that. I woke up still thinking about refugees and the verse that came to mind was “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” (Sorry for the high language. We were raised King James Version, #KJV4Lyf.) Here’s a more modern rendition:

³¹“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

³⁴“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

³⁷“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

⁴⁰“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

Drop the mic, Jesus. That’s some topical stuff, yo.

What if a terrorist gets in among the refugees? A wolf among the lambs? Yes, that could happen. Or a terrorist could fly in on a student visa. Or take a boat and come in through the coast. Or grow up in Iowa. Or Charleston.

If we slam the door on the people fleeing the very extremists we fear, we aren’t shutting out the terrorists. We’re shutting out the next generation of Americans. The ones who ran for shelter and found it. In my lifetime, that’s included Sudanese, Somalis, Serbs, Iranians, Vietnamese…and a whole lot of our great grandparents and grandparents.

The next part of my day really brought home this idea that America has to keep its arms open. There are two little girls in Carlos’ class who speak Arabic at home. I don’t know how they got here, I don’t know what country they are from. They are here now. They are quiet and watchful. They understand far more English than they speak. After many weeks of hugging them and talking to them and making a fuss over their drawings or puzzles, they have just begun to use single words when we talk. One said, “green” and “yellow” and “whhhhhite” last week when I pointed to colored blocks in the tower she had built.

I won’t use their names because I don’t have permission. I looked up the meaning of each girl’s name in Arabic and I swear Grandmama Eunice thumped me on the head again: one name means “mercy” and the other means “angel.” Angel and Mercy, these little souls I have been lucky enough to meet.

(Jesus picked up the mic and dropped it AGAIN.)

My baby and his turkey hat.

This morning was the Thanksgiving sing-a-long at PreK. I watched Angel and Mercy sit with their classmates in a nice straight row on the gymnasium floor. Each child wore a construction paper turkey hat made from their own handprints. Mercy’s eyes sparkled and she waved when I took her picture. Angel sucked on her finger, like she does when she is nervous.

What are they learning about Thanksgiving? What have we taught them about this quintessentially American holiday? When we are grateful for the bounty we appreciate here. When we remember how the native people of America helped our first set of refugees, fleeing home all those centuries ago.

I may not believe in angels, but I sure believe in mercy. And I open my arms and heart to the least of these, because I am an American.

In Baltimore, You Hear What You Expect to Hear

7 Replies

file541344101316 The events unfolding in Baltimore–whether you call it a riot or an uprising–put me in mind of a lesson I learned in Baltimore eleven years ago on a broiling hot summer day when my heart and mind throbbed with fear.

There wasn’t much left of my rational brain at that point. Richard had been diagnosed with leukemia on June 30. He got blood and platelets the next day at the hospital where I work–just enough to get him healthy enough to fly. He took off that evening for Baltimore, for Johns Hopkins Hospital, where his treatment would begin as soon as possible.

I stayed behind for a couple of days to batten down the hatches and pack us both some clean underwear. I tied up loose ends at work, at home. I explained what was going on to everyone who needed to know, then I rushed north to Baltimore.

While Richard had been teaching at Loyola in Baltimore, I had fallen in love with the city. We rode water taxis across the Inner Harbor, dined along Second Street, walked the paths of Poe. So it wasn’t my first time in Baltimore by any means, but I didn’t know anything about the neighborhoods around Hopkins. Well, I knew one thing–“Don’t go there. It’s not safe.”

Rockwell House. My throat closes up just looking at the door.

But now, in the world of leukemia, Johns Hopkins felt like an island of hope, the one place Richard might be safe again. His parents had booked us a small caregiver apartment at the Joanne Rockwell House, right on the edge of campus. Somewhere around Washington and Jefferson Streets. I tried to find it on a map this morning, but the building isn’t there anymore–replaced by newer digs.

A flight, a ride from BWI, dropping my things at Rockwell House, then hurrying to the hospital with my heart in my throat. Then the first slow hours of waiting in a room with Richard, the first few of the hundreds we would spend like that over the next 10 months. Waiting for a miracle in the worst neighborhood in Baltimore.

file000137091442 On his advice, I left before sundown, so I could make it back to Rockwell House. Luckily, Richard’s mom had left some food in the minifridge. The only store visible from my window was a corner liquor store, plastered with booze posters. A barren parking lot, owned by the hospital, gray buildings shuttered with plywood, and the liquor store. I felt like a traveler in a ship, looking out my porthole at a strange land.

Eight o’clock, nine o’clock. The summer sky grew dark. After so many days of panic and chaos, the time had come to be still. I stretched out on the narrow twin bed under the window and tried to let my brain and body catch up to each other.

Then just under the window, a few feet from my head, I heard several loud cracks. Someone shouted over the sound of POP POP POP POP from the parking lot below me.

This middle class white lady HIT THE FLOOR. With a quickness. I didn’t even watch The Wire at the time, but I knew what happened when you mixed a Baltimore liquor store, summer heat, darkness and shouting. I slithered across the floor then reached up to kill the overhead light. The cracking and shouting continued. I lay panting in fear on the linoleum floor and waited for the sounds of sirens. None came. I watched the window and waited for it to explode from a stray bullet.

Then a strange SCREEEEEEEECH cut the air, followed by more popping, but slower now. A green burst of light filled the window. I remember lying there on the floor and trying to make sense of it. Cop car lights aren’t green in Baltimore, are they?

In all the rushing to get to Richard, I had forgotten that day was the Fourth of July. And Americans shoot fireworks after dark on the Fourth of July. I eventually realized the sounds were firecrackers and bottle rockets and crawled up off the floor to watch out the window.

Those young men in the parking lot across from the liquor store that night were celebrating freedom the old-fashioned way–with some gunpowder and fire and laughter. An American tradition.

My tired brain, filled with fear and confusion, had heard gunfire and threats. That was what I expected to hear in that part of Baltimore.

So I ask you, when you watch the news, don’t just listen for what you expect to hear–look again.

file000323988880

Some Big Gay Advice

32 Replies

It’s been kinda quiet here at Baddest Mother Ever lately. Not quiet in my life. Not quiet in the world. Just quiet in this space because I ran into a wall of fear.

2013 - 1the world needs My fairy stepmother, Big Gay, called this weekend. We’re gearing up for Big Gay Christmas, so there’s lots to be done. After she got the list of suggestions for presents for the kids, and reviewed the menu for standing rib roast, she said, “Ayshley (you have to say it with the extra vowel and a little touch of cigarette smoke to get the full effect), your Daddy and I adore your blog. You have such a gift.” I thanked her quickly but she was not to be deterred.

“We used to get something new to read every day–lately we’re lucky to get a story once a week. What’s up with that?” I know she was teasing me, but she was making a point too. That woman knows me. And she knows when something is up.

“I’m in a rut. I feel like I talk about the same stuff over and over and I figure people are getting bored with that. It just seems like blah blah blah blah nobody cares. I’m afraid to mess it up and I’m afraid to not write. I’m just stuck.”

And that’s when she doled out some Big Gay Advice.

“You’re going to need to get the fuck over that.”

Big Gay does not find Bunny’s perching trick funny.

She collects antique English porcelain and has a little Italian Greyhound named Bunny. She grows antique roses and peonies as big as a dinner plate. She’s in the garden club and the book club. She’s elegant and smart and lovely.

And right.

Sometimes you just need to get the fuck over yourself.

I’m in such an over-analyzing mode lately that now I’m wondering if I’ll lose readers just because I said fuck. Several times. Or if I talk too much about my goofy brain.

Whatever. I’m going to choose to get the fuck over that.

Big Gay and I talked a while longer but I had to get off the phone to see who was yelling at whom back in the house. I took a shower and when I checked my phone a half hour later, I saw a missed call from Big Gay.

“Hey, did you need something else?”

“I did, sweetheart. I had another thought. Your writing HELPS people. It makes us think, ‘Well, I guess I’m not so weird after all.'”

“Thank you for saying that. That’s what I want to do.”

“But, Ayshley–what I realized is this. It can do the same thing for you. When you write, you’re not alone either.”

So here I am–telling another story about how sometimes I forget that telling stories is important–even if your parents are the only ones reading. Even if the story has been told again and again, like the one about the Christmas when Daddy gave Big Gay an industrial meat slicer. Or the story about the time we were picking on Little Gay about being a bad driver and she stormed out of the house and ran over the cat. That time when Brett got pulled over by the cops for stealing her own car. Or when Daddy got emotional asking the blessing and toddler Grant whispered loudly, “Pop Pop’s cryin’ like a baby!”

Yeah, I think I’m over it. Thanks, Big Gay. I got you that heavy duty garden hose you asked for for Christmas. You are so good at making things grow.

Here There Be Dragons

4 Replies

Abraham Ortelius, Tehatrum Orbis Terrarum, 1570

Legend holds that, centuries ago, mapmakers marked uncharted areas on their maps with the Latin phrase: HC SVNT DRACONES.

“Here are dragons.”

There are only two maps still in existence that actually have these words on them, but the dragon or sea serpent was often used in map decoration to represent perilous waters, dangerous leviathans, or geographically murky coastlines. I think the expression is so beautiful–“Here there be dragons”–that the idea behind the phrase has stayed with us even if it isn’t on that many maps.

It’s a useful way of saying, “We are leaving the part of the world that we know and hell if I know what is out there but it’s probably scary.”

It’s the Latin form of “Get in. Sit down. Shut up. Hold on.”

I’ve been feeling that way the last few days. Since November started, to be exact. I’ve set myself a goal of writing 1000+ words every day and they are words in addition to what I post here. Words that, if assembled in the right order and around a central theme, might be called a…well, you know.

But I don’t want to jinx it.

In the proud tradition of procrastinators everywhere, I usually end up squeezing in my writing goal between 11 p.m. and midnight. I get my fingers moving across the keyboard. I slog through the warm up, force myself through the sticky bits, finally manage to sail my word ship in the general direction of The Point…and that leaves me in a soggy mess of tears.

I’ve cried myself to sleep every night in November (sounds like a country song). And it feels great.

With all this new territory, something new struck me about “Here There Be Dragons.” The cartographers didn’t put that on there to say “DON’T GO! PADDLE THE OTHER WAY!” Maybe they put the dragons on there as a landmark, a way to know that you’re steering in the RIGHT direction. If you’re looking to explore the uncharted lands, you are right on course.

The one thing I remember from those sailing lessons that Richard and I took in Maine just before he was diagnosed with leukemia was “Point the tiller toward the trouble.” In the weird physics of steering by wind, if you want to go around an obstacle, you have to point the tiller directly at it in order to maneuver the rudder and the boat around it. (I think I got the terms right. My sister will correct me if not.)

So some of these feelings that I’m stirring up? I hope my face burns from the dragon’s breath and this strange quivering around my heart is stirred by the dragon’s wings. And I hope I don’t fall off the edge of the world.

HC SVNT DRACONES.

A Rising Tide

25 Replies

rising tide

I had an ugly mental moment this morning. I’ve been cultivating a sense of abundance this week. Trying to focus on all that I have. Chanting, “I am enough, I am enough.” Rowing my little boat and keeping it low in the water, right in the middle of the channel.

This Voice of the Year thing on Friday is a big deal for me. I’m claiming that. Some days, I numb myself from the excitement so that I don’t confess that I am thrilled to have wanted something and gone out and gotten it. I’ve been trying to stay in a positive, happy place with it instead of moving straight into “I hope I don’t screw this up” territory.

This is not a left-handed plea for y’all to say, “You’re going to be fine!” I’m just telling you where my head went because I learned something from it. I learned that it’s really hard for me to accept attention for doing something well. I crave that kind of attention. I seek it out. But when it comes, I am afraid that the rug will be pulled out from under me. I am afraid that someone else will come along and take what I wanted so much just because I admitted that I wanted it. I am afraid that the “You’re OK!” store will be empty by the time I get there.

I am afraid.

That’s the gist of it. At the heart of perfectionism is fear. At the heart of my anxiety is fear. At the heart of my depression is fear. It’s always fear that I won’t be enough.

I am enough.

And here’s where the ugly mental thing came in. I saw that another blogger, who’s very creative and clever and funny, will be doing an event the same time I will. My immediate reaction, instead of, “Oh, wonderful! I can’t wait to spend some time with her!” was “Seek and destroy. If you get near her, you will be less.” Suddenly, I wanted her to fail so that she wouldn’t take any of my success.

What the hell???? I’ve never even met her.

Luckily, I’ve been reading Brene Brown’s book, “The Gift of Imperfection.” I recognized a shame reaction as I was having it. And even luckier, I had a therapy appointment already scheduled for today!

I made myself sit with the fear. I checked my evidence and it proved that I have a right to be there, regardless of who else is around me. I talked it through and realized that this once-in-a-lifetime event is also a big package of every inadequacy trigger I have, all rolled up into one. People will see that I am old and overweight. I might cry. I might get short of breath and look like I’m panicking. I might not be that good. I might be good, but not the best. I might ask for too much. Maybe it’s arrogant of me to walk out on stage.

I’m reading a story about Richard and it might not be good enough to honor his memory.

These are my triggers. Maybe they will make me sing and I’ll just black out altogether.

Part of going to therapy is letting these feelings come up. Sitting with them. Saying hello, then moving ON. Even when they are scurrying to catch up to me.

I did my work with my therapist and I came back to the knowledge that there is enough of enough for everyone. I don’t have to scrap with other writers for a limited number of readers. I can be good. She can be good. You can be good. We can all be wonderful together.

The creative life is not a competition; it’s a tide. A rising tide lifts all boats. When I occupy a space of abundance in my own heart, I can share it with others. When I’m stuck in fear, I have nothing to give. I am going to loosen my grasp, let the tide take me. A rising tide, lifting all boats.

I’m not even going to reread this because I might chicken out on publishing it. Just remember this: fear doesn’t have to stop you. It won’t stop me.

How Could I Have Missed This?

21 Replies

There was a time in my past, that time when Fartbuster started making a real effort to be happier. He got contact lenses. He started working out. Bought some new clothes and experimented with hair products. I found myself saying, “He’s getting better. He’s taking care of himself.” Duh! He exhibited every cliched sign of a cheating man–right down to the lipstick on his collar. Once the lies came to the surface, I sat all alone in the ruins of my life and said, “How could I have missed this?” I was so ashamed that someone had fooled me like that. How could I have been so stupid?

There was a time in my past, that time when Richard couldn’t seem to shake that cold. He had no energy. Sometimes, he’d spike a fever. He finally went to the doctor but the doctor said it was bronchitis. The antibiotics didn’t clear it up but it was the end of the semester so he was feeling exhausted anyway. That was probably all it was. His grandmother died and he felt low. He had bruises, but said they were from skiing…back in March? And now it was May? Then there was that blood vessel that burst in his eye and didn’t get better during two weeks of vacation. His vision began to cross so he finally went to an ophthalmologist who thought there was a chance he had a retinal bleed. When Richard mentioned that he hadn’t been feeling himself for a while, the doctor ordered a CBC. Within 48 hours, Richard was at Johns Hopkins on the oncology ward. A few days later, our film from that vacation came back and when I saw the pictures–him resting on a driftwood tree, his legs covered in a solid swath of bruises from yellow to purple–I was so ashamed that I had “let him” walk around like that, so obviously sick. I hid the pictures. And I asked myself, “How could I have missed this?” How could I have been so stupid?

Red flags. Why didn’t I see them?

I know, I know–it was never my job to police a cheater. And I know, I know–leukemia is easy to miss in an otherwise healthy 37-year-old man who doesn’t like to go to the doctor. No one blamed me because I didn’t order a CBC right away. But because I’ve been spun sideways by a couple of doozies like these, I sometimes feel like I am just living in wait, waiting for some shoe to drop.

I thought that shoe had fallen back in December when I took my darling son in for his well visit and left with a handful of red flags. Filling out those social/verbal/motor skills inventories threw me for a loop. I thought he was independent, a free spirit….but maybe he doesn’t know how to interact with other people? I thought he talked when he wanted to talk…but he’s falling behind his peers. Where’s the line between a hard-headed little boy and a syndrome, a condition, a diagnosis? When our doctor said, “I don’t think he has autism, but let’s get him screened now that he’s three,” the first thing I asked myself was “How could I have missed this?” How could I have been so stupid?

Now it turns out that my son has some kind of language issue. I haven’t wanted to talk about it here (and as soon as I typed that, my stomach knotted up and I thought about deleting the whole thing for the 1000th time) because it’s still hazy. He’s getting speech therapy and he’s making swift progress. The doctor is encouraged. I’m encouraged. And the fact is that he’s still my baby boy, no matter what. I write about personal things here, but usually it’s things that are resolved. Lot of rear view mirror stuff on Baddest Mother Ever. Not things that are “we’ll see.”

The whole thing got me thinking about this reflex of saying, “How could I have missed this?” Because when I sat across the table from a speech therapist who says, “Yeah, he’s not making sentences,” I felt like an idiot. How could strangers be telling me something about my own son?

The same way a doctor knows how to read a CBC. It’s what they do.

Now I’m looking for red flags EVERYWHERE. I won’t be fooled again. I will figure this OUT and by sheer force of will I will……

….what?

I will accept whatever comes along.

Because that’s what I learned from the other doozies. Even if I HAD seen the red flags from Fartbuster and Richard, I couldn’t have changed anything. I can’t “fix” what happens with other people, even my own kids.

All I can do is love them where they are, how they are, who they are.

I am hopeful for Carlos. On the first day he started getting speech therapy, I picked him up and decided to spend some car time working on his conversation skills. The therapist said he needs to learn to express “Yes” and “No” and I could help him with that by asking simple questions. We also want to increase his “mean length of utterance” to an average of 3. So I asked him, “Is your name Carlos?”

His reply? “That’s funny, Mommy.”

Then he started saying his colors in Spanish–he LOVES Spanish. I pointed to my shirt and asked, “Que color?” He said, “Wojo!” I said, “Si! Mi camisa es roja!” Then he said a few more color words. I was at a stop light, so I picked up my knee and pointed to my black pants. “Que color, Carlos?” I lifted my knee higher and waggled the fabric.

He caught my eye in the rear view mirror and said, “Drive car, Mommy.”

My Friend, Ashley

33 Replies

Dont-believe-everything-you-think

OK, for about a week I’ve been in a slump.

And kind of down in the dumps.

Try to write, but I get stumped.

With a case of the grumps.

Which leaves me feeling like a big ole lump.

What a chump.

For the last few nights, I have trudged down to that peaceful writing room in the basement so that I can sit in front of the computer and beat myself up for not having anything worth saying, not being able to say it the right way, not being able to…be able. Or just be. At 11 p.m., I clomp back up the stairs and put myself to bed, feeling like I missed my chance.

The feeling of foreboding grows. Because on days when I don’t write, my brain gets mean. It turns on me.

I start to question myself. I conclude that no one gives a shit anyway and if I just slink off to silence it won’t make a rat fart of difference. I slide, in everything.

The internal negative messages ramp up. Constant judging. I’m brushing my teeth and think, “Jeez, when’s the last time you plucked your eyebrows, Sasquatch?” I help Vivi get dressed and think, “I bet other mothers don’t send their kid to school in socks they don’t like.” When Carlos babbles something to me, my mind snarls, “There’s something you’re missing here and if you really loved this child you would fix it and he would talk just like every other kid in his class.” I leave 15 minutes late–of course, because I’m a lazy slob. My car makes a funny sound and that’s my fault, too. I’m being too honest right now and that’s probably a mistake, right?

After I drop Carlos off at his school (where he cries and doesn’t want me to go but I do anyway–I need to be a heartless mother so I can get to work late and mess up more things there, son!) I sit in the car waiting for a gap in the traffic. A woman walks by with a cute turquoise purse. She waves and gives me a bright smile but my first thought is, “It’s the wrong season for that color purse. It’s still winter…for two more days.”

Seriously.

Judging judging judging. I instantly feel guilty for judging someone else so I bring the verdict down on myself. “Or MAYBE she likes the color and it makes her happy and she gives herself permission to be delighted because she’s not as fucking rule-bound as you are!”

And I burst into tears.

(I sure do cry a lot in my car. It’s like the only place I have privacy some times. Is that wrong, too? Probably.)

That’s when I finally say something to the voice in my head that has been hounding me all morning: “Shut it. That’s my friend Ashley that you’re talking about and you’re not allowed to talk to her that way.”

The shit I say to myself about myself on a daily basis–would I EVER let someone else talk like that to a friend?

So I’m going to be nice to my friend Ashley today. I’m going to tell her that she’s doing tough things but she is tougher. I’m going to tell her that she matters. That she is allowed to be whatever she is this day, this minute, this life. She’s OK and I’m proud of her.

And now I’m thinking that I probably shouldn’t have spewed all this nonsense out there, but my friend Ashley told me it was a good idea. Sometimes she’s brave.

These Hips Will Never Be 15 Again

10 Replies

When I stood up after a one-hour meeting this morning, my hips popped and cracked so loudly that my coworker and I had to laugh about it. But I’ll take the creaking bones and sore muscles in exchange for the two hours of roller skating joy I felt yesterday afternoon. Those sounds were just one more reminder that these hips will never be 15 years old again. For that, I am grateful.

Back in middle and high school, roller skating was a thing. It was The Eighties, so we skated in Gloria Vanderbilt jeans with a plastic comb sticking out of the back pocket, sequined leg warmers twinkling in the disco lights. On a Friday night at the Skate Inn, the air hung thick with Aqua Net, Love’s Baby Soft and Polo. I didn’t live close enough to The Big City to get to go skating every weekend–only about 3-4 times a year for birthday parties and such–so I never got really good at it. Not like Amy Sarsfield, who had her own white skates with yarn pompoms tied into the laces. She could skate backwards. When it was time for Couples’ Skate, she and her boyfriend slipped around the oval in a waltz, not just holding hands and tottering along side by side.

In those days, my main concern while skating was looking cool…which didn’t simply mean staying upright. I had to fight gravity and inertia, keep my hair combed, bounce in time to “Freak Out” by Chic, look around for my friends and any cute boys without looking like I was looking around. My hips were busy keeping me looking cool while all of that was going on. Because skating for me was all in the hips. Maybe my legs were too long or my center of gravity was too high or the legs of my Gloria Vanderbilts were too tight to allow the right movement, but I never felt safe and graceful while up on skates. Some primordial fear of falling kept me from completely lifting my feet off the rink surface to push. And don’t even try to do that crossover step on the corners! So I wiggled and glided and slammed into the carpeted wall to stop (ever so gracefully). If I really lost momentum in the middle of “Brick House,” I might summon the courage to lift my left foot an inch and give a push/wobble/recover but every one of them made my breath catch in my throat. My whole body vibrated with teenage tension, waiting for the BOOM!

Well. That was thirty years ago. After a looooooong hiatus (um, 30 years), I’ve been roller skating three times in the last month! Vivi likes to go and I like to take her on any and all adventures…and if you’re going to the skating rink with a six year old, you’re gonna skate. This is not the kind of coaching you can do from a distance.

Each time we go, we get a little more comfortable. Vivi falls fearlessly and often, like a game of Pick Up Sticks. She’s tall for her age so she resembles a rolling flamingo sporting a look of dogged determination. I look more like a turkey leg from the Renn Faire, up on skates. At least my jeans these days have a little more give to them, so there is some blood getting to my feet.

My hips are faaaaaar more experienced at 45. They’re wider, but wiser. As I was gliding around the rink yesterday, smiling openly at the middle aged men hot-dogging around, I thought about that 15 yr old girl I once was and it hit me–I’m not the woman I used to be. And that’s a good thing.

I’m not that girl anymore. I’m three times older than she was. My hips know how to shift weight from balancing a baby. My toes know how to press for a corner because I learned that snowboarding in Utah–heel side J’s and toe side J’s. The gliding along, moving weight from side to side, well that’s like skiing. I still look around, but now it’s to find my kid and give her a wave. I still can’t lift my feet all the way off the floor for fear of toppling over. But I can still feel the music in my hips and I don’t care if I look goofy as I bounce along. Especially if it’s the Harlem Shake or the Cupid Shuffle. That stuff’s right up there with the Commodores.

Skating still makes me wobble, but it’s FUN.

It’s one of those things I would have denied myself if I had spent too long thinking about it. I can’t go roller skating because I’m too old, too fat, too clumsy, too tired, too fragile, too impatient…too afraid. But when you’re the mom of a girl and you never want to hear her say that she’s too clumsy or fat or fragile to try something fun, you have to shut up, lace up, and show her how we roll.

Share this post with your circles!

Share this post with your circles!

Share this post with your circles!

Share this post with your circles!

Share this post with your circles!

Share this post with your circles!

Share this post with your circles!

Share this post with your circles!

Share this post with your circles!

Share this post with your circles!