And bring some balance into your world A tinge of red and orange dot the hillside banked with a mix of deciduous and evergreen trees. A few big maple leaves have already begun to litter the walkways as the days grow shorter and the evenings become crisper. The wheel of the year has come full... Continue Reading →
A Road Trip of a Different Color
“Road trips are the equivalent of human wings. We will stop in every small town and learn the history and stories, then we will turn it into our own story that will live inside our history to carry with us, always. Because stories are more important than things.” -- Victoria Erickson Road trips hold a... Continue Reading →
We Are the People
A tale of voting rights throughout history We the People, are the first three words of the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution. In all, a fifty-two-word sentence with some mighty power. We are the people; black, brown, white, native-born, or immigrant. We are the people, not based on our sex, gender, or who you love.... Continue Reading →
For Better or For Worse
3 reasons people tie the knot — in 1950, and today My parents are celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary this month! There are not very many statistics on how many couples reach their 70th wedding anniversary but it seems clear, not very many do. At eighteen years old, my mother looked at my dad and... Continue Reading →
A Mother First and Gay Rights Activist Second
The story of Jeanne Manford and the baton she passed to me. I sit at the far end of the semi-circle of tables and chairs. We are gathered in a small meeting room at the back of a pizzeria. The room doubles as a space for both group gatherings and birthday party bashes. As I... Continue Reading →
The Day I Picked up His Banner and Walked With Him
The beginning of one mother’s journey as her son came out as transgender. My son is twenty-three this year. Five years ago, at the age of seventeen, he came out as transgender. It was on a rainy, Northwest day my teenage child, then known as my oldest daughter, drove off in the old Toyota. A... Continue Reading →
Going Wild at Cafe Wylde
P stands for Plant-based Plant-based. What is it? “We offer local, vegan, and organic food straight from the earth”, reads the sign of Café Wylde in Everett, WA. It is a late February day and uncommonly dry for the Pacific Northwest. I stand on the sidewalk and wait for my friend to arrive for our... Continue Reading →
Self-Love and Body Curves
Looking in the mirror and being happy in my own skin It started young, hating my body. Typically, I could be found with my nose in a book rather than kicking a ball on a soccer field. In fact, often I was the last one picked for a sports team at school. There was one... Continue Reading →
The End of the World as We Know It
And do I feel fine? It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine. So goes the lyric from the alternative rock band, REM’s song by the same name. This song hit the music charts in 1987 with it’s frenetic, fast-paced syncopated lyrics referencing everything from Soviet ruler Leonid Brezhnev to biblical rapture to... Continue Reading →
Six Degrees From the Stonewall Riots
A look back at the inception of PRIDE to see the way forward Right now, most of us concur we are living through times of uncertainty and civil unrest. A global pandemic with a rising death toll, riots, demonstrations, police brutality, the sinking economy, and the list goes on. But it’s not the first time... Continue Reading →