Category: empowerment
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They Don’t Look at Me Anymore
They don’t look at me anymore because I’m not a “miss” But they miss the woman I have become I’m more than my lines that would be art if etched in tin instead of my face They don’t look at me anymore because they don’t need to card me I buy French wine from the…
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U2
We are coming up on a year without my dad. My heart feels heavy, so I’ve been listening to U2’s Joshua Tree a lot. I have such a vivid memory of getting tickets via a phone call to Ticketmaster to the original Joshua Tree tour which stopped at Pontiac Silverdome. I was the last in…
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To Be
I stare into the dusk wondering if life is a collection of moments or are my moments a collection of me. A bird bobs and weaves on the line of the horizon, acting out the ups and downs of what it means to just be. The faint sound of the wind carries with it a…
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Skating
When I am on skates, I feel invincible. It is me, wheels, movement, and music. Everything else just fades away. It started when I was seven. I lived on skates in the summer and was a rink rat during the winter. I discovered it was the perfect thing for Midwesterners to do all four to…
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Quit
I have so many reasons to quit writing. I have people depending on me. I love my job, the people, and I want to keep growing. I want to keep growing my children and my marriage, too. My waistline is growing, and I want to exercise more. I can’t wish more hours into a day.…
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Season
My team member, as he left the office today for the last time, headed for his new career adventure, told me we had a good season together. It made me happy, but it also challenged my notion of a season. I live in Michigan to fully experience the four seasons of nature. I get howthose…
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Sunkissed
When the sun kisses my hair through the breeze cracks of a shade bearing tree, I feel beautiful. The sun nor the tree care about how old I am, for one, if not both, have been here longer than me. In this moment, I don’t need to reach for anything. I am just here, feeling…
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Presenting
For the first time in three years, I gave an in-person presentation at work. My team helped me craft and deliver it, and we shared our passion for our work, which ultimately helps special education students in our state. Driving into the office that morning, I had the worst nerves. I had forgotten how to…
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Mom
Mom, mom, MOM, moooooommmmmm, I hear amidst the din of Saturday Costco shoppers. I’m hiding in the dairy, an old milk maid soothing a hot flash. They want to spend my money on twenty pounds of salty snacks that will go stale like my mood this insufferable July afternoon. Mom, mmmmmmmmmmom, m-O-m. How did that…
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Sight
Time has drawn shadows around my eyes. Lines etch memories around my smile. I can still cartwheel though in an open field on a sunny day, dandelions tickling my ankles. I can see more clearly now than I ever have. Progressives. Wisdom comes in a vitamin for 40+ year old women. I drink fruit-flavored tea…
Kelly Rogers 