When Dennis Lynch enlisted in the Marines in 1963, it was more a lack of options than a valiant effort to serve and protect his country.
Grand Edits with Dennis Lynch: Revising Life after Military Service
courage
All or Nothing
I’ve always wanted to wear a pair of Converse All Star tennis shoes, but I’ve never been cool enough.
I’m a 5’11” white girl with size 11 feet. A writer. An English nerd with an alphabetized spice rack. Continue reading
Grand Edits with Brandi Matonich: Revising Life after Teenage Pregnancy
In her freshman year of high school, Brandi Matonich was a happy, busy, normal teenager. She held a part-time job at a local coffee shop, and played the clarinet in the high school band and Jazz Band. She looked forward to school each day. Continue reading
Grace
Have you ever had a secret? One that you had to keep from everyone? One that was surely worse than everyone else’s secrets?
I carried the weight of a secret, and it wore me down. It kept me turning in bed when I desperately needed sleep. It masked the bright flavors of my favorite foods. It dulled the colors of my world. Continue reading
*SUPERBLAKE*
Hello, Friends!
Here’s a little sunshine for your Monday…
In November, I shared the Sternhagen family’s journey through a sad and bewildering time as their infant son Blake was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a condition that could dramatically shorten a child’s life (full story here). Continue reading
Great Expectations
When my son Gray was three years old, my mom stopped by our house and uttered these fateful words: I have something for you.
What is it, Grandma? What is it? He eyed the plastic shopping bag, imagining all the wonderful things it could contain…
Brave
Me in a tree. Circa 1988.
My arms were linguine as I climbed the high-dive platform ladder at the Northern Michigan University pool. I was nine years old. My dad tread water below me, black hair stuck to his forehead, mustache sagging and shiny. Continue reading
Run with It
I’ve been staring at the computer monitor in my basement dungeon office for twenty minutes, half-working and half-listening to my husband teach my oldest son about triangles. Continue reading
In the Books
I slipped my bare feet from beneath the covers and tiptoed across the hardwood floor to the bathroom. Locking the door behind me, I quietly tore into the foil wrapper, removing the plastic stick marked PREGNANT and NOT PREGNANT. Continue reading
Revise and Improvise
Hi, I’m Stacy.
I am a writer and a certified English and health education teacher, but right now, I’m staying at home and teaching my own brood about a whole bunch of super-important, fundamental, character-building stuff. You know, the crucial kind of stuff that shapes small children and determines what kind of human being they will turn out to be and assures that they will never spend a night in jail or experiment with recreational drugs or use a salad fork to eat an entrée at a fancy restaurant… Continue reading
REVISIONS OF GRANDEUR 