Two of the strongest words in the English language are: I can. You can. We can. Laura Ingalls Wilder books and television series echoes those words. I love, love, love them, and I love them more as a writer today. I watched a documentary on PBS and it is noted that Laura and Mary would […]
Author Archives: Tessa
Do your treatments damn it
Check this graph out. I’m so old I’m not even on there. This one here says a little more relevant for my age group. Both graphs are from Cff.org 2019. A reminder of some quick stats: Cystic fibrosis is an example of a recessive disease. That means a person must have a mutation in both […]
Sweet corn, sweet grass
Sweetgrass Is Around Her A woman was sittingon a rock.I could see herclearly,even thoughshe was far away.She was Teiohontasen,my mother’s aunt.She was abasket maker.When I was young,my mother told methat her name meant,“Sweetgrass is all around her.”I thought that it was a good namefor a basket maker.She was in her eightiesthen.She was short like me,and […]
Jeremiah Justice!
Four years ago, I found my way to Highlights Foundation for a children’s writing workshop. Remember the Highlights magazines that you may have thumbed through as a kid – that Highlights. The family created a nonprofit for authors and inspiring authors to learn together. A fellow writer and friend in Minnesota suggested that it’s a […]
Learning some tools
Many years ago, I had what one calls juvenile arthritis. In some circles, they say cystic fibrosis-related arthritis. It started at 12. For me, the best-educated guess I have is that I absorbed everything and held everything in. Now – mind you, in some ways, it didn’t seem like I had a choice, at least […]
SNAFU
I made a big SNAFU this week. A SNAFU: SNAFU is widely used to stand for the sarcastic expression Situation Normal: All Fucked Up, as a well-known example of military acronym slang. However, the military acronym originally stood for “Status Nominal: All Fucked Up.” It is sometimes bowdlerized to all fouled up or similar.[3] It means that the situation is bad, but […]
Take a little time
I am going to talk about financial goals – and you may give me an eye roll, a yawn, and that’s okay. Is financial stuff boring – maybe? Boring is often the most important. It is about planning well; living well. Chatting with a friend of mine – she always gives me sound financial tips […]
Intentionality
The Oxford English Dictionary defines modulation as regulate or adjust, moderate. Adjust or vary the tone or pitch of (the speaking voice). “The Merriam-Webster definition of ‘modulate’ includes the idea of ‘tuning’ to a key or pitch, or keeping in measure or proportion, as well as the idea of ‘varying’ amplitude, frequency, or phase ‘for the transmission of information.’ […]
You got your story
Story, story, story – what makes a good story? I wrote a piece last week and the class workshopped it.I wrote this piece to be imperfect. I am not perfect, and I am a bit scrappy. I am serious about my writing, but I am not overly-serious about it. And there is a point in […]
How Can I Help?
Remember my pharmacy debacle not that long ago? Which one? Good question – The one a little over month ago when I almost had a breakdown. I had to gather my wits and assemble my thoughts. After I wrote that blog, people gave me ideas. One, I reached out to my social worker and basically […]
