Essays Category

September, 2023

As bright summer days wane into the amber of the autumn equinox, I find my psyche returning to the fragile landscape of shock and grief when the nucleus of my family was ruptured. 22-years later, our avowed devotion is the flame which ignites an unwavering pursuit of truth and justice to hold sovereign nations accountable for their role in supporting and carrying out acts of terrorism on American citizens, on our nation’s soil.

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I found some fantastic fudge today!

In honor of David’s birthday, his story is told by the mark of his own pen. I’m pleased to share his gift of words, as brilliant as the light of Venus in this evening’s sky. This is your invitation to the celebration.

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MOTHERLINK

This past Mother’s Day week has been a trifecta of heavy life-events, each of which warrant a story of their own. Instead of polishing the post I surrendered the gorgeous sun-drenched day with my canine bff, Joni, rather than spending the entirety of the weekend with my laptop. And I’m so glad I made this single right choice.

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On Being A Beginner, Again

I know how to do a lot of things. I know how to search for a missing person with a toothbrush and a comb. I know how to stage a funeral when there’s no body, and how to resurrect a broken one. I know how to take my child to a doctor when the bleeding […]

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Superbowl Sunday

I’m not an American football fan. The oldest in a family of three girls, I didn’t grow up around football. My father was on the high school track team in the 1950’s and my mother was cheerleader and an usherette in high school. I ran track and Cross Country and played Little League Softball throughout […]

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January 20, 1982

[In memory of Elizabeth “Lizzie”Anna Rieb, nee Teseny – September 22, 1943 – January 20, 1982] I think we know that nothing lasts forever. That every day something in our relationships, our social strata, our bodies, is ending. Let’s say your taxi-mom job is ending when your son drives himself to a movie in your […]

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All That Terrible, Beautiful Music

           What can I say, my daily mood is underscored by intense sadness. I lose my son every minute of every day—in the grocery aisle, at a red light when a BMW 350 xi passes by while an NPR guest discusses how breathwork and yoga changed her traumatized brain, saving her life. In every store […]

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David Garcia Memorial Service, October 13, 2001

On a severe clear Saturday, two-decades ago, my family and I remembered my love; husband, daddy, son, brother, uncle, cousin. Three weeks planning a funereal service on a barrier island in a public State Park and with the iconic Boardwalk restaurant, culminated in a beautiful celebration of life with violins and butterflies. Funerals and memorial […]

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WAKING INTO SEPTEMBER 12TH, 2021 Continuing Beyond Twenty-Years of My 9/11 Life

After moving through Twenty-years of 9/11, I find strength in the pain to continue my journey with hope.

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As I Approach the Twentieth Anniversary of September 11th

The pressure begins mid-July, with the surge of email, postal letters, and ramped-up 9/11 media aggrandizement. On August 1st, the tunnel of lasts and memorial making opens its dark eye, drawing me into the force that always unfurls my sons and I into the bedrock, with the others, to gather, to mourn, to embrace, to […]

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