For years, Rob sang a particular psalm to our kids at bedtime. He’d sit on the floor in their darkened bedrooms and sing to settle them as they headed off to sleep. I’d stand at the doorway as the tune washed over me at the day’s close. “What shall I give unto the Lord, forContinue reading “What Shall I Give Unto the Lord?”
Author Archives: Clarissa Moll
A Different Kind of Birth
My fourth pregnancy poked along to the very end. I often tell my youngest, “You were just so comfy inside you didn’t want to come out!” On a sunny spring day, after labor had stopped and started all day, Rob finally convinced me to call my midwife for encouragement and an update. “Just relax,” sheContinue reading “A Different Kind of Birth”
The End of a Season
I studied theatre in college; and when I graduated, I hoped to spend my career in the field. I interviewed with professional companies, became heavily involved in community theatre, and worked for a regional theatre for a season after Rob and I got married. Since I’d been a kid, working in the theatre had beenContinue reading “The End of a Season”
Looking Ahead
School officially started this week, and all of the looking ahead has got me thinking lately about my kids growing up and my home emptying out in the years ahead. I can’t help thinking about it when I stack the high school textbooks and pull out the graphing calculators and lab books. My children haveContinue reading “Looking Ahead”
Reflections on a Summer Spent
As the summer closes, I’ve been reflecting on the ways these last three months changed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This biggest change to our family’s summer plans was the cancellation of a cross-country road trip I’d planned with my children. They wanted to finish the trip Rob’s death cut short last summer. I wantedContinue reading “Reflections on a Summer Spent”
Getting Ready for Fall
“The question of what you want to own is actually the question of how you want to live your life.” Marie Kondo, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up Today is one of my favorite days of the summer: Getting Ready for Fall Day. I usually mourn the end of the summer, so each year IContinue reading “Getting Ready for Fall”
Campground Envy
Rob and I took this picture the day we set out on the road in 2017. We hoped our three months of traveling would be the gateway to living on the road full-time. Our family traveled over 50,000 miles over the next three summers, but we never made it to full-time status. It didn’t endContinue reading “Campground Envy”
Poetry Friday: “Making a Fist”
This summer, I had my older three children read Naomi Shihab Nye’s novel Habibi about a girl who moves to Palestine. We had studied the culture and geography of the eastern hemisphere in social studies this past school year, and I’m always looking for literary connections. Rob and I always wanted our children to understandContinue reading “Poetry Friday: “Making a Fist””
The Sea of Sorrow
I go to the ocean to sit with my grief. Dead things are everywhere here. The landscape feels familiar. Empty shells, bits of cast off crabs, seaweed dried crisp by the radiating heat of sun on sand. Waves roll in, pushing the ribbon of detritus up the beach, adding more death with every breaker. TheContinue reading “The Sea of Sorrow”
Poetry Friday: “When Great Trees Fall”
Welcome to Poetry Friday! Today we journey through grief with Maya Angelou. I love the cadence of her words and her connection to the natural world. As I reflect on the early days after Rob’s death, Angelou’s description of grief especially rings true to me. I wonder where you find yourself in today’s poem. DoesContinue reading “Poetry Friday: “When Great Trees Fall””