by Ashley Larkin | Dec 4, 2014 | Celebration, Faith, Perspective, Sorrow
Every year I need to remind myself in the season of waiting that Advent is not truly the forced-happy and frantic countdown to Christmas that I can sometimes make it. Advent is anticipation and longing, the days of earth’s groaning and our own unmet yearnings....
by Ashley Larkin | Aug 15, 2014 | Community, Five Minute Friday, Love, Sorrow
300 Howard University students stand for Michael Brown, 8/13/14 There is no telling what it felt like to be in his skin in that moment. Was he afraid? Indignant? Was this one of those times his mama had warned him about? And while we don’t know all the details of this...
by Ashley Larkin | Jun 23, 2014 | Family, Gratitude, Love, Sorrow
We drove across three states, as we always do, to visit the log house she built with her husband named for sunshine. And the ache was palpable, undulating with the rolling hills of Wyoming, as we faded in and out of sleep. One could almost imagine the ruts family...
by Ashley Larkin | Mar 25, 2014 | Family, Just Write, Love, Mothering, Open endings, Sorrow
She pads into our room at dark o’clock and tugs on my shirt. “I had a bad dream, but I don’t want to talk about it,” Lala says blankly, reciting the script as if by memory. Even in the middle of the night, I recognize...
by Ashley Larkin | Jan 31, 2014 | Faith, Five Minute Friday, Gratitude, Hope, Joy, Sorrow
I wouldn’t say he swept in to save me. It felt more a remembering kind of seeing — a peace that started in the belly and moved to limbs, fingers, toes. Thirteen years old, sorrow filled, downright hating myself, knowing I couldn’t keep living like...
by Ashley Larkin | Oct 26, 2013 | 31 Days 2013: Right Here, Childhood, Family, Favorite posts, Grace, Mothering, Parenting, Perspective, Sorrow
They arrive in their black and white, masquerade masks, bear and unicorn heads, short dresses over leggings, sweatshirts, ties over dress shirts, middle school dance anxieties. I stand behind the food table and the bowls of candy, Doritos, Kettle chips, donut holes...
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