Linda Gray Sexton
How did I get through the loss of Gulliver, the dog of my heart, to whom I dedicated Bespotted? How did I put away my grief and return to living and enjoying myself once again? The answer is a simple one: I bred a litter of puppies. Two years after Gulliver’s death, we sent our girl,…
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Writers keep bizarre schedules: some compose late at night, some early in the morning, some whenever the urge overwhelms them. I am a disciplined early riser–or should I say that my three Dalmatians are early risers who tromp all over me and my blankets until I get up and feed them at 6:45 a.m., just…
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The writing business is peculiar. One year you publish a novel or a memoir or a biography, and then as many as five years can pass while you write the next book. It takes an additional nine months or so for the publisher to get it into your local bookstore or up onto the digital…
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As I write today, it is “Juneteenth,” the national celebration begun on June 19, 1865, when Major General Gordon Granger led Union soldiers into Galveston, Texas and announced that both the war and the scourge of slavery were over. This date gives me pause, leading me to reflect on its joyful creation as well as…
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This year, the weather was idyllic and we spent a lot of time lounging on rafts in the pool, pushing the little ones on the swings and clambering up into the treehouse; Brad spent the last two months as its design architect, engineer and carpenter, building the structure by hand–from pouring its cement footings to…
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I looked at my calendar and realized that Mother’s Day is about to roll in once again. I hope your Mom is still by your side. But if not, perhaps you–like me–can feel her presence once again because on this particular day we remember and celebrate her influence upon us. The following poem captures the…
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Doesn’t everyone think their grandchildren are the very best ones around? Of course, my own grandson is truly amazing. At twenty-one months, his vocabulary is something of a shock: he is able to attach names to objects and emotions rather than simply repeating them all back to me like a parrot who doesn’t know what it is…
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Retirement agrees with Brad! His retirement agrees with me! When my husband reached the ripe old age of 67 and said goodbye to his stressful career last winter, I worried whether he would find enough with which to occupy himself. However, to my delight, he seems happier than I can ever remember. He has begun to…
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Spring arrived yesterday with the vernal equinox. Two daffodils and a yellow and a purple crocus have popped up in the small, curved garden alongside my driveway. Every year, I have the same surge of hope for the new season, with all its blooms and possibilities. But today, it is rainy and raw, and those…
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This morning, Breeze got up from her padded armchair–which we have allowed to become her dog bed–and walked across our room to greet me. I was slipping out of bed, ready to take her downstairs to potty and eat breakfast, when I noticed she was holding one paw up off the ground in an exaggerated…
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