It is a shining fall morning and my husband, our three sons, and I are hiking at one of our favorite local trails. I say “our” favorite, because it’s a place we’ve visited regularly since the children were small, when the twins, Emmet and Zephyr, rode in backpacks and our oldest son, Milo, ran down the mossy trail, stopping to dig up Indian cucumber root and wild sarsaparilla and gnaw on spruce gum. “Me and Papa are the plant eaters,” he’d declare. But today those children are disgruntled. They are eleven and fifteen years old and have better things to do than go hiking with their parents on a bright October day.
So begins my latest published essay, "Memento Vivere," which is about impermanence, growing children, and the artist Andy Goldsworthy and appears, alongside some gorgeous photography of Goldsworthy sculptures, in the Winter 2018 issue of
Still Point Arts Quarterly, and which you can read, download, or order in hard copy
here. Hope you enjoy it!
That was a beautiful essay!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jan!
DeleteI agree with Jan. I also think parenting teens and young adults can be anxious and isolating. In an effort to honor my kids' privacy, I hesitate to share experiences or seek advice from other mothers. (Something I was less apt to consider when they were younger.) As a result, I'm not always aware of how many other parents' struggle with conflicting feelings of sadness and anticipation. Your essay, which reflected shared sentiment, reminded me.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Rachel. It is ironic how, as the stakes get higher w/ regard to our anxieties about our kids, the less free we feel to share our feelings with other moms who may be going through the same thing.
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