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No Words

Thursday, December 13, 2018 Adrian H. Wood Comments (0)

I’m angry this morning, but most of all, sad. It shouldn’t matter WHO is raped or WHERE they live or WHAT they do, but in Lumberton, it does. According to FBI crime data from 2016, residents there have a 1 in 55 chance of being raped, assaulted or killed. Terrible things happen on this earth every single day, but none are worse than the events that could have easily been prevented. A thirteen year old NC girl was abducted, raped and murdered and it was totally preventa ..

Hania’s Mother

Monday, December 10, 2018 Adrian H. Wood Comments (0)

I wonder if her heart broke all over again. The loss of a child is surely the greatest hurt and yet, the manner of which it occurs plays a pivotal role on the heart. I watched my parents grieve their son, a 19 year old boy whose life was snuffed out by cancer and it was so very hard. What if he had been kidnapped? Raped? Murdered? There are no words. Like many, I imagine, Hania’s mother has been so present in my thoughts. Yesterday, as she buried her thirteen y ..

Dear Mr. President

Friday, December 07, 2018 Adrian H. Wood Comments (0)

Dear Mr. President, I’m sorry to bother you, but I know you’ve heard of the little girl named Hania Aguilar. She was just thirteen years old and lived in my state of North Carolina, a United States citizen just waiting for her ride to middle school. Instead, she was kidnapped and after a desperate three week search, her body was found. The FBI is hopeful that her murderer will be found and meanwhile, her family is planning a funeral for Saturday. Cely, her mother, wants verymuch for ..

Lessons From My Mother

Thursday, December 06, 2018 Adrian H. Wood Comments (0)

Pretty is as pretty does, she gently reminded me. Funner is not a word, she reprimanded me with a smile. If you tell the truth, you don't have so much to remember, I find myself repeating to my perplexed children. You look great, she speaks with utmost sincerity even when I was nine months pregnant or swollen with steroids so many years ago. I'm excited, she offers whenever we make a plan to do something just the two of us. Life's not fair, she said firmly when my nine ..

Traditions

Tuesday, December 04, 2018 Adrian H. Wood Comments (0)

Our traditions aren’t spectacular. We don’t do the same thing for every holiday, at the same place, or even at the same time. We switch it up. Not so much on purpose, but that’s just the way life seems. Some years, we go here for Thanksgiving and other years, we go there. Sometimes, we stay put. Christmas is much the same way. We’ve been home or gone visiting grandparents. One year, not so long ago, I realized a few days before Christmas that I had forgotten to get our p ..

Feeding the Hungry

Sunday, December 02, 2018 Adrian H. Wood Comments (0)

It’s December and I’ve done little to get ready for Christmas We did get our tree up and threw out some nutcrackers, but not much else. No set plans. No Christmas cards ordered. No gifts purchased. Christmas is right around the corner and I just can’t seem to get it all together. We don’t need anything, but it’s hard to convince children of that. I struggle with how to not let material crap take hold of what is a lovely season. Today, we gathered at St Paul's Episcopal ( ..

Richmond Times-Dispatch

Saturday, December 01, 2018 Adrian H. Wood Comments (0)

Dear Richmond Times-Dispatch (https://www.facebook.com/TimesDispatch/?__tn__=K-R&eid=ARDDgWnUYnRTQoIbDREOZannEORiGDpiro6Ey9qjwLidXqPPUq2z-ECfI7pBEbGh_8_-AzOdUjt6Leg3&fref=mentions&__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARDYmZ9BEk46PpIpElNSvGOXbt-i2m1wcoZ5JzKY0nesuJo8kvasQJch5aRY3K5DYM1TWcngcNp8L9IpDWhAkGah9wDva8C004g69kcaURItB4iMbgBwDDBGpQOPrgBEUBq05pOseaWjkB_ohLpJf6fkpoXRHHo46scyAveGMhu4SuNfLLkc_KiVJiTEo2NU3eqbJuomvVFPcBIAh_PD4bl6Zm-GBoyQ43lxWoLqh0XXLFYibMP6pF8qmLGE47Xy5baFcZ14B7d9vfqjyW2PviTqC ..

Summer Camp

Wednesday, June 20, 2018 Adrian H. Wood Comments (0)

Two lines of boys in the month of June. Two lines of boys, roughly the same age. Two lines of boys, one group born to privilege and the other seeking a better life. Two lines of boys, one group in Tornillo, Texas and one group in Arapahoe, North Carolina. Two lines of boys, both groups hot and sweaty. Two lines of boys, one group hopeful for letters and boxes filled with candy and water guns. Two lines of boys, one group wondering where the fuck they are and if ..

Mountain Camp

Sunday, June 17, 2018 Adrian H. Wood Comments (0)

He’s not terribly sporty. He plays soccer somewhat reluctantly and church basketball, a bit begrudgingly. Perhaps it’s the running. He’s not much into sweating. It took years to get him out of a collared shirt, khaki shorts and loafers. His spirit is sweet and giving, not so much competitive or cut throat. We dropped his nervous self off at mountain camp today. A birthday gift from his grandparents and after watching the promo video a half dozen times, he ..

Keeping Score

Thursday, June 14, 2018 Adrian H. Wood Comments (0)

Keeping Score Not me. Not his dad. Not his teachers. Only him. He keeps score and no matter our words or reassurance, he won't let those numbers go. Don't baby him, some say. You can't keep him in a bubble forever, others scoff. You'll have to let him fail sometime, you tell me. Well, I don't agree, not when the subject still calls me mommy, the sixth grader who leans in for a hug and asks to sleep in our bed when daddy is gone. That boy will be thrown to the wolves over my dead body, bu ..

Tales Of An Educated Debutante

on life, loss and the joy that rules the day.

The future is far away and scary, but today is lovely.

No Words

Hania’s Mother

Dear Mr. President

Lessons From My Mother

Traditions

Feeding the Hungry

Richmond Times-Dispatch

Summer Camp

Mountain Camp

Keeping Score

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