Dear readers,
It has been silent on here for some time. And a very long time before that. Maybe you’ve returned. Maybe you have not. Maybe you’ve read on instagram through the years, or joined my Substack in the interim. Despite writing about goodbyes in various spaces during the last year, it has been very hard to write it on here. There are too many words and feelings for this little internet space that I found in 2012 as a new mom, and for all the people who followed it. I, we, all grew so much. My heart is equally heavy and light with gratitude. How many thank yous am I allowed to give? Thank you!
We are still growing SO much, but not here on this space any longer. Typing that made me teary. River started middle school not long ago. She rides the subway alone with a group of friends and wants to be an activist and an artist. Oak is in third grade reading well and still a ham, as ever. I handed in the second draft of my third book which was the initial reason I stepped back. I’m etching out a new career and whatever may be in this next phase of my life with big kids and writing. We are settling into a new apartment. The cats are huge, and know how to turn door knobs. I bought a house that I rent. I said some goodbyes. I healed, deeply. I found myself, and I loved her, fearlessly. And I was buoyed by my in person community, while still trying to hold this one.
My hair is short. The days now mimic it and seem so too. I dance in the evenings, walk and meditate in the day. However, I move slower, think bigger, and am leaning in to parenting and finding language for this woman, this search, and this time, between.
We are thankful. THANK FULL to capacity. Beyond measure, actually.
I would love if you would come say hi on With Love, L where I’ll continue to write essays on culture, wellbeing, and just a tiny bit of style. Goodbye for now in this beloved home of homes.
a photo from an early 2012 post… babies!
A Bird, came down the Walk
A Bird, came down the Walk –
He did not know I saw –
He bit an Angle Worm in halves
And ate the fellow, raw,
And then, he drank a Dew
From a convenient Grass –
And then hopped sidewise to the Wall
To let a Beetle pass –
He glanced with rapid eyes,
That hurried all abroad –
They looked like frightened Beads, I thought,
He stirred his Velvet Head. –
Like one in danger, Cautious,
I offered him a Crumb,
And he unrolled his feathers,
And rowed him softer Home –
Than Oars divide the Ocean,
Too silver for a seam,
Or Butterflies, off Banks of Noon,
Leap, plashless as they swim.
I love you!
LaTonya
