Thirty-four years ago, I was a first-time mother barely surviving my liberated effort to “do it all”. I moved frantically from long days as a newspaper reporter into long nights of a colicky baby, trying to prove myself perfect in both arenas. I wanted to quit the job, but I was fighting the voices of …
What I learn from hunger
I'm cutting up strawberries to break the fast of Good Friday and, because I'm thinking about everything except this exact moment in time, I find myself lifting a strawberry up to my mouth. Luckily, just before I pop it in, I remember: I'm fasting. And the sun is still high in the sky and, for …
The Nana-Love drug
My favorite person in the world right now is my 2.5-year-old grandson. Creepy as it sounds, I'm in Nana love and, unlike the normal infatuation adults go through, this isn't wearing off even though we’re technically past the honeymoon phase. This has come as quite a shock to me because throughout my daughter’s pregnancy, I …
Opioid crisis up close
It’s not hard to spot the drug addicts at my local public transit center: They all wear the same uniform of dark, dank and disheveled and they're almost always asking for money. So I knew as I walked toward a couple pacing by a bench, that they'd probably have a request. But I walked toward …
Why sidewalk preachers make my life hell
Saturday, as I was finishing up my brief shift at the Tucson Festival of Books, I came across a sidewalk preacher, outfitted with a wireless mic and amplifier. The horrible thing is he'd set himself up near a long line snaking its way to the book-signing table of of R.L. Stine, one of America's most …
A man, a bus, and a big crucifix
There was a remarkable man at the bus stop last week. You couldn't miss him: He wore a hat adorned with a racoon tail and at least a dozen buttons connected to various veterans' groups. In spite of the cloudy day, he donned dark glasses, and around his neck hung two thick necklaces decorated with …
The nearness of God
Today's bus reading - which I did in haste and frustration and with a sense of complete failure because I'm still not living the Year of Faith the way I thought I would - was from the Gospel of Mark, chapter 6, relaying the story of how Jesus wasn't recognized as the Messiah in his …
Pro-life or no? The Church can't decide in this case
Bus reading today produced a story in my Facebook feed from the Colorado Independent regarding a sad malpractice case against St. Thomas More Hospital in Canon City. Here's the skinny: In 2006, a young woman, seven-months pregnant with twins, arrived at the hospital in distress. Her OB, who was also the doctor on call that …
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Riding the bus with ex-felons
It is freezing here in Tucson. This isn't hyperbole: Today it was 31 degrees when I got on the bus. Days when it is really cold - and likewise, in the summer when the temps register above 110 and life on the streets is a health risk - the bus gets crowded with the homeless …
Is that God on your shoulder?
A friend once told me that he would believe in God - or perhaps he said he'd consider believing - the moment God reached down, touched him on the shoulder and said, "Hey." I mentioned that sentiment to another friend - a priest who happens to be a cosmologist and one of the Vatican astronomers …
Renee Wrote This 