porch swing patience

There’s patience … and then there’s patience. You know what I mean. There exists a pseudo-patience, the kind that scrapes the surface and looks admirable to passers-by, but is inextricably intertwined with discontentment. Then there is porch swing patience. Have you...

fighting fear

I grabbed the phone, corralled my kids into a bedroom, locked the door and told them to crawl under the bed as I called the police. We had just walked into our house in Cape Town one morning to find a broken window, a large rock wedged against our back door — and a...

when the light is hidden behind the clouds

“Ladies and gentlemen, we have begun our descent. Please fasten your seatbelts, and return your seats and tray tables to their upright positions to prepare for landing.”   Even as the pilot’s voice came over the intercom, my eyes instinctively went for the tiny...

when you forget to look up

  This past summer I had the rare treat of going water-skiing. And by rare, I mean that it’s been over 15 years since I last stood up on skis. As I bobbed in the water before the boat took off, I called out to my husband, “If I actually manage to stand up, you...

the reason we’re all a little bit homesick

When I stepped onto that plane for my first ever flight to Cape Town, little did I know just how much things would change. A few weeks shy of twenty-one, my plan was to stay for six months. His plan kept me there for a decade, gave me a husband and three kids, and...