Dull Moments

I don't tell a lot of stories about my dad. I love my dad a ton, but honestly, it's my mom that I call all the time. This past weekend, we stayed with my mom's only brother & his family. My husband, who always claimed my out-going personality was my father, changed his mind. "Your uncle is just like you! I see it now -- you two are an extroverted version of your mother!" So some times, I forget to give my dad a lot of credit. If you don't know this about me, I hate tests. I have major test anxiety. Give me an essay question about anything -- a subject I know nothing about -- and I'll ace it. Make me fill in bubbles, and well... I freeze up. When I took my ACT for the first time in high school, I got a crap score. I was a straight-A student, and I never did poorly on anything. My teachers loved me. I played 3 musical instruments. Clearly, something went terribly wrong. I was devastated and embarrassed. My father saw my score, and very compassion...

When I did an Urban Studies semester in San Francisco, I met the "friends from college" that everyone talks about. You know, those people with whom you had all those GREAT times, did crazy fun things, and keep in contact with for the rest of your life. I didn't get that at my alma mater, so this was a big deal for me. We always called our cozy times together the "Safe Space". Whether it was curled up together in a small room, hiding in the pantry praying, huddled on a sidewalk while the chicken man walked by, or laughing our butts off at a dance party, our friendship was a Safe Space. This Safe Space did me a lot of good. I have been hopping from Safe Space to Safe Space ever since. When I was low and had nothing, my sister and brother-in-law took me into their home. The 2 years that followed were some of the best of my life. They gave me a new Safe Space. When I married Robert, we had to work out how to make our own Safe Space for each other. This pas...