Freedom of Voice

An empty box and a bouquet of tulips greeted me when I got in from walking the dog yesterday evening.  John stood there, a smile on his face. He knows my favorite flowers are tulips, and these vibrant purplish pink ones just looked like the color of love. I read the card stuffed inside the box and sniffed back a few tears.  I knew the box itself had significance, but unlike the 27 tiny boxes I stuffed with memories on paper, the purpose wasn't obvious to me. In my defense, it was stressful day, and my brain was not functioning at full capacity.  (Disclaimer: I know lots of women would be irate at receiving an empty box for an anniversary gift, but we vowed to go gift-free this year.) I must have looked at him quizzically. "It's empty so we can fill it with 27 more years of memories."  This. This is why I love this guy with all of my heart. After all this time, he still wants to make memories with me.  As I ran my hand over the box this mor...

When I began this blog, I promised to show my heart. Currently, it's divided among 27 tiny boxes, each one containing a memory I've shared with John. (If you read my post,  Sound of My Soul , you know the song, "Boxes" by the Goo Goo Dolls has become our theme song.) After a tumultuous and expensive year and a half of moving many times and not being sure of anything except for the strength of our marriage, we have settled back into a comfortable groove. Unfortunately, both of us have been busy acclimating to new jobs, so were haven't had tons of mental energy once we get home. Sometimes, we spend our time at home working. Often, I think about doing something nice for him, but I can't seem to gather up enough will to peel my butt off the couch. I try to say nice things, to show how much I still appreciate him, but I get sidetracked. Our upcoming anniversary on the 27th seemed like a perfect time to wow him with a meaningful (and cheap) gift. When the song ...

A funny thing happened this week: My drives home from work were relatively stress-free, the areas that usually stack up considerably lighter. And, lighter traffic means a lighter Annmarie. Like laundry, traffic is on my top ten list of annoyances. My family tells me I'm an aggressive driver. Perhaps. I prefer to think of it as defensive driving. The problem is, I do become a tad too defensive and get myself all riled up, every misstep by another driver giving me an excuse to rant. But, this week was different. I found myself just cruising along, and other than the orange jeep that almost ran me off I75 yesterday, I didn't have moments I feared for my life. I sat in the middle lane for the most part, not worried about the people doing 100 zooming by me or the others puttering along at 55 I was passing. I let a couple of cars in when they were in the merge lane. What's the difference, I thought, if I am the 3rd or 5th car in line? I did draw the line, however, at lettin...

I've been feeling more than a little uninspired these days, even with potential muses all around me. But, yesterday, I went on an adventure with two dear friends and writing circle buddies that helped renew my intention to live life in the moment. At first it didn't seem all that promising. It was the opposite of swampy due to the time of year and the dry conditions we've had. But, as I  gazed up at the ancient cypress trees, listened to the wind dance through the tall, impossibly skinny pines, and opened my ears to the bird  symphony, I began to feel inspiration well within me. But, other than a couple of bees getting busy with a flower, there wasn't a lot of wildlife making itself visible. Yet. When I tell you we walked smack dab into the middle of a paradisal oasis, I am not exaggerating. I don't have pictures to show the scope of how magical the place was because I decided to leave my big camera home in an effort to be in the moment, so you'll just hav...