We didn’t need the confirmation. We already knew. We felt the devastating winds. Saw with our own eyes, all the storm surge swept away. We’ve lived in the aftermath. Without help. Without relief. Relentlessly. Since that day. We’ve keenly felt the deaths. The catastrophic devastation. The destruction to our homes and cities. Our livelihoods. Our [...]
Nothing could've prepared us. Not for this. Though we did prepare. We boarded up our windows. Stocked up on supplies. Safeguarded our valuables. But this time would be so much different than those that had come before. Pretty soon, all we had left were our prayers. And our fervent hope that we'd still be alive [...]
I got my first tattoo at 35. My husband took me. It was small. Just the Japanese symbol for courage. Inked in black on my back. Cliche really. But that one tattoo started me on a journey that I doubt will ever truly end. What can I say? I'm enthralled by ink. That first tattoo [...]
Bay County homes totally destroyed by Hurricane Michael. Photo by Jane Smith My dear friend, Linda Artman, told me a story the other day that made me sad. She was flying into Panama City to spend a few weeks volunteering in the area, as she has done many times since Hurricane Michael, and to assist [...]
She was 17, I was 19 when we began writing our story. We worked together. For the first time.In a clothing store. In the mall. We shared a love of books and fashion over an Orange Julius, or two. Went to aerobics. Had big hair. It was the eighties and we were young.She was 23, I was 25 [...]