My mother wore bright red lipstick when she took me to the park

or when we went to the grocery store

or the doctor’s office when my throat was sore.

She was not what you might call ‘girly’

my mother

She kept her nails short

and her hands were ready to do the work

that was needed. She cared about

politics and equal rights and I believe

she would have marched on Washington if her life

had turned out differently.

I never understood the lipstick.

It was so unlike the person I knew

the one I called mother

but I didn’t know all of her. She was, first,

a woman.

Now I am also a mother and I see how

what you sacrifice is also what you gain:

a dream for a dream.

Right now, I am someone who…

Is waiting on many answers.
Is tired of waiting.
Is learning to pray for patience.
Is learning how to be happy for people who have the things I’m still working towards.
Is working towards those things, one impatient or patient day at a time.

Is a little bit stuck. Isn’t sure what to write or what to share.

Is going to write and share, anyway.

This episode is going to be a bit different from other episodes. Mostly, it is going to be perhaps a little less serious. Because in this episode, I’m going to be talking about clothes. Let me begin with a confession: I like to buy things.

In what small, gentle ways, can you shake your world? Where can a simple, daily action create some good?