“Auntie Ro, can we go on our adventure today?” When my niece was four, and I thought I was too, we’d go deep into the woods to search for gnomes. Just the two of us. In our imaginations, the gnomes with their tall red hats and overalls left us treats in the crevices [...]
I have such a story about my mom. This is not one of those stories I need to overcome. It’s a story of two breaths. One was on my first inhale. One was on her final exhale. It was and remains real. And I was there for both breaths. I was loved by [...]
What if I was wrong then? That I didn’t remember that children don’t do what you say, they become who you are. What if I couldn’t remember that shame programs start in our formative years? Until like last month, I was at the beach reading in my beach chair under my pink umbrella. [...]
I don’t care. I care so deeply. To be right? No, I don’t care. I don’t care to prove, defend, explain. I don’t care about assumptions and unbendable beliefs. There’s no opportunity to share my truth. The doors are closed, and I’m hanging in the hallway of shut doors. I don’t care about [...]
Summer is still like a bike ride. I’ve got this Schwinn fat seat cruiser with a basket. My only rule for the downhills: feet off the pedals, legs in a V formation, and GO. I wear dresses when I ride now because I never would have worn a dress before on a bike. [...]
Today, it’s Father’s Day. I’m in my dad’s house in my dad’s bedroom. Nobody’s in the room but me. The rules changed in a moment. No one asked. It was just known. My mom’s accident was right before they built their new house. My dad went ahead with it. He’d say, “We might [...]
Come home. You’ve been out there long enough. I’ve been in the process of being Robin all my life. Life is always tossing me a life raft. Some days are easier than others. Some days the raft needs a little extra air. But my best beauty comes through when I realize that raft [...]
Olivia left her study abroad program early due to the pandemic. A year later, I suggested she return to complete the experience. Boldly, she agreed to go without the structure of a program and students. She got permission from her new job and rented an apartment for two months. Being the great mother [...]
This February, in a healing session, my teacher—who reads energy in the profound way that only she can—said, “Robin, it’s imperative for your future to travel somewhere warm like the Yucatán before the New Moon on March 2nd.” Then she said it again. I’d never heard her use the words imperative for your future. [...]
Happy birthday, my Stella. With everything, there’s flavors. Stella likes chocolate. My loss tastes like metal. Cold. Stella is twelve years old, waiting for me on the curb, tapping her fingers on her watch. I promised her five dollars every time I was late picking her up from school. “Five bucks, please,” she [...]
