The Gift of Ben

As a runner, you learn how to feel the pain; in each solitary moment of a step, to feel every inch of your body; mindless, you simply exist in the moment. Your soul becomes physical, each ache and pain, burning muscles, lungs taking in the life of the wildflowers, red sandstone, peaks in the distance speakingI am alive,  the breeze carrying droplets of crystal water off the mountain, and […]

As you turn nine,my daughter, I seehow time stretches and shrinks,and becomes simply,that one moment. You are not a baby anymore,so why do I watch you sleep?Tiptoe in the middle of the night,to check your windowsAre they locked?So no one can take youfrom me,too. If there is no riseand fallof your chest, then my handgently,every so tenderly,touches […]

I hoped to attend the sentencing today in order to speak these words myself. But, I respected my husband’s wishes that I be spared the additional trauma that the charge and related court appearances have brought on our family. Please excuse me for avoiding media calls today, but I’m spending the day with my girls as I […]