Posts in Tough convo
Scarf Juggle

On a Christmas break, I visited my college boyfriend and his family in Oregon. He made sure I experienced ALL that his state had to offer. At a Duck’s basketball game, they had a special halftime competition that still makes me smile!

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Joy Thief

“Hey, I am going to steal your wallet now. See. I have my hands on it. Watch me take it.” —Said no robber ever.

It’s almost funny to think about, because it doesn’t happen. I thought about an announced robbery when I read these words, “Comparison is truly the thief of joy.” A student included them in a letter through Letters About Literature, a program where students write to authors about how their books made a personal impact.


With those words, I remembered our house being robbed...

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Stay in Your Lane

During my last workout of the year, the swimmer in the lane next to me frogged his legs out and almost kicked me a few times. It’s par for the course, but once or twice his hands skimmed my torso.

It startled me, if I’m honest—I felt a bit violated. “STAY IN YOUR LANE!” I yelled under the water.

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Falling Together by Author Debbie Zapata

I am sitting on the dock next to the lake. It is a place of solace during my darkest moments. My best friend since childhood sits quietly nearby. I can’t do this alone. It’s only been three months since my dad’s death. It’s his birthday—the first one without him here.

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What KIND of date?

A moment on the radio: A guy “pulls out all the stops” for his date and can’t figure out what went wrong. He explains: “I wanted to make a great first impression and really treat her ‘right’ like a true gentleman. I gave her flowers, took her to the best restaurant...

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Take In

Cruise goal #1: Connect with crew. For the first time ever, I cruised as a passenger. I worked for Carnival out of college and never sailed as a guest. While on board, I made a special friend and he shared his daily schedule:

 

“Around 3 O’clock, I take in a coffee.” His words stuck with me. In Spanish, people say “Tomar el café”, or “take in” coffee. Also, contextual to a cruise, “to sunbathe” uses the same verb with “tomar sol.” Apparently, French and Hindi have similar translations: a more purposeful “taking in” of sorts. 

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