LLCoolBray

One night, 20 years ago-maybe more, maybe less, I wished upon a star. My wish was made in the midst of angst and anxiety and constant, debilitating worry. It was made with the deepest desperation of my soul, but I never told anyone. I felt every bit of Mary Hatch with her desperate, window-shattering wish. I wish, someday, I will have the life I dream about. Driving home tonight, with my child sound asleep in the back seat, I realized that my wish from so many years ago DID come true. It came true today; over the course of a regular day, fraught with the frantic bustle and chaos of approaching holidays...   This morning, I woke up in a home warmed by the heat of a wood stove. This home, my home, complete with stairs and a wraparound porch, was the envy of my eye for many years, and sometimes it's still hard to believe it is ours . I stood at the sink and watched the sky lightening over the top of Goosenest and Willow Creek, the same skyline I enjoyed as ...

A year ago today I awoke with a strange feeling in my chest. When I came downstairs for breakfast, I told Clint, "something is going to happen today. I'm saying it out loud so it's on record." He’s used to my premonitions, and has experienced enough of them being accurate to know I’m not completely crazy. At 1:45 that afternoon, I called and told him I discovered the cause of my weird feeling. That afternoon, a conversation we had many times before was coming true; we were becoming foster parents and we were taking in three teenagers for emergency placement. The kids were siblings, ages 12, 13, and 14. I had known them for years through school, but Clint had never met them. He agreed to take in three kids he had never met. Bless that man. My heart still swells with love when I think about that day and how quickly he said “Of course we’ll take them.”   Our "kids" were only in our home for a week, but it made a lasting impact on all of us. We tried...

Alright, y'all, here it goes...I'm launching a new blog. I've been feeling the itch to write again lately, and I figure it's about time to start back up with my creative outlet.  I came across this piece that I wrote last year, and I wanted to share it. Enjoy! Tonight, I'm having a bit of a identity crisis stemming from the fact that somehow, without my knowledge or permission, it is 2017. That means it's been ten years since it was 2007. A couple of weeks ago, I actually wrote "07" as the date on something at work, giggled to myself at my silly mistake, and then realized I was TEN YEARS off. TEN. YEARS. Ten years have passed since 2007, and it feels like the blink of an eye. 2007, man. Every now and then, if we are lucky, we experience one of those years. You know the years I'm talking about? The ones that make an impact the size of the Chicxulub crater on your soul? 2007. Even seeing the numbers typed out makes my heart skip a beat. I wish ...