by debwfrank | Jan 7, 2019 | childhood trauma, dysfunctional families, grief, widow
photo by Benjamin Davies, courtesy of Upsplash I dreamed about the two worst traumas of my life last night. They were separate dreams, though both were in present time. In one, I’m talking to a classmate from Vermont College who was widowed earlier this year. In the...
by debwfrank | Jan 4, 2019 | books
This was a strange and wonderful experience to listen to. I listen rather than read in order to expand my reading time (on the treadmill, in the laundry room and kitchen) usually figuring I’m having the same experience either way. But with a cast of 160 for this...
by debwfrank | Dec 20, 2018 | cancer, dysfunctional families, grief, loss, trauma
Photo by Everton Vila on Unsplash Yesterday I learned that my brother-in-law died. Keith was a heavy Facebook user who suddenly went quiet, so a neighbor checked on him and discovered he’d passed away in his sleep—at 65. Since he was living in Ecuador, I hadn’t seen...
by debwfrank | Dec 12, 2018 | books, child neglect, childhood trauma, dysfunctional families
I read a crazy number of books, but Where the Crawdads Sing will go down as one of my favorites—I didn’t want it to end, it was such pure joy to read. There’s lots to love about this book, but most compelling for me, was that I felt a strong connection to Kya, the...
by debwfrank | Dec 4, 2018 | breast cancer, cancer, trauma
photo by Josh Adamski, courtesy of Upsplash I just heard the commercial friends have been telling me about, the one for an injectable migraine drug. A few weeks ago, I would have been ready to sign on, though the drug claims are underwhelming, purporting to, “reduce...
by debwfrank | Nov 26, 2018 | books, memoir
When I headed up retail operations for Borders, one of my most critical tasks was hiring store managers. I loved the process of drawing out the motivations and character in someone I’d never met before—in an hour or less. Apart from looking for the ideal candidate...
by debwfrank | Nov 19, 2018 | hiking
photo by Chris Geirman, courtesy of Upsplash Last night, Bob treated me to a post-birthday surprise. We split our drive home into two legs, going just to Steamboat yesterday, and the rest of the way to Salt Lake today. In Steamboat, we went to Strawberry Hot Springs....
by debwfrank | Oct 12, 2018 | Uncategorized
Photo by Stéphane Juban on Unsplash We woke 3 days ago to the kind of quiet that feels like something’s wrong. When I looked out the window, I couldn’t imagine how we’d slept through it, but our front yard and the walkway leading from our porch to our...
by debwfrank | Sep 27, 2018 | Autism, film, parenting, Uncategorized
I watched two movies about mothers of young children recently that reminded me how it felt to be judged by teachers and other parents. It’s been a long time now, but the feeling came back, raw, as I watched Tully and Little Children, now out on DVD. In Tully,...
by debwfrank | Sep 8, 2018 | film, grief, movies
Photo by Jamison Riley on Unsplash Last night Bob and I watched Lean on Pete. From the description—a 15-year-old boy tries to save a horse from slaughter—I had no idea that I would be experiencing the most intense chapter from my childhood. Spoiler alert: I give away...
