Category: Maria Brady-Smith
I’m the Mom
I’m the Mom I wasn’t born a mother, like my children think. Once, not long ago, I was a child, too. I hung my head off the couch and looked at the world upside down, lost myself in play, picke... Read More
Pandemic Dream
Pandemic Dream It is that moment in childhood’s early summer when everything is fresh with possibility and forever makes its promises once more. I open the back screen door and step barefoot into th... Read More
Missed Connections
Missed Connections Real life is hard. We are busy, distracted, preoccupied. My words are insufficient, awkward. I say the wrong things or I don’t know what to say at all. We just keep missing connec... Read More
If I Could Tell You Just One Thing
If I Could Tell You Just One Thing If I could tell you just one thing, it would be this- beneath the daily disappointments, beneath the layers of frustration, anger, sadness, beneath even your despair... Read More
How I Want To Remember Us
This one is dedicated to my mom, who would have been 100 years old yesterday. How I Want To Remember Us We were all there, the whole family, sitting on a blanket together. Waiting. An entire history o... Read More
Resilience
I know it doesn’t always go this way. But I believe it can. Resilience We humans- we were made to adapt. Our very survival depends on it. Sure, we’d rather not. We resist, we deny, we shake our fi... Read More
Retrospect
Retrospect Sure. Looking back, you tell yourself, you would have done things differently. You should have tried harder, been more patient. You could have done more. But retrospect is an observation to... Read More
Letting Go
Letting Go There was so much you had to let go of to get to this place, this intersection of what you do and who you are- dreams that weren’t really your own, worn out beliefs, old habits of thought... Read More
Book Review
Book Review The main character has kept me company for a while now on quiet afternoons, has coaxed me back to sleep on anxious nights. Against the backdrop of a particular moment in history in a parti... Read More
On Watching Mr. Rogers Bury a Dead Fish
On Watching Mr. Rogers Bury a Dead Fish My grandchildren and I sat mesmerized, as he quietly, carefully, netted the little silver body, wrapped it reverently in a paper towel shroud, troweled a hole i... Read More
Mid-February
Mid-February Look at the tree. Just by growing, by reaching toward the Light, it provides so much- breath and beauty, shade and haven, nourishment. It doesn’t punish itself, but endures what must be... Read More
When Sadness Comes to Visit
When Sadness Comes to Visit Against all instinct, Don’t run away. Try not to fix anything. Don’t get busy Cleaning the house Or running errands. Just sit down with it. Offer it a cup of te... Read More
A Blessing
A Blessing As you set out on the path ahead, may the difficulties of the past be transformed into strength and compassion. May your fears be channeled into alert determination. May self-doubt recede s... Read More