Friends

  • My Roots

    My Roots

    Real Talk at a Sonic Anna and I were discussing the Big Blue Mess – its roots and how it’s changed (grown? devolved?) over the decades. It was one of those Sonic fueled heart-to-hearts – the kind you have with a friend. At least I feel the chat was at a Sonic, because that feels…

  • Storytelling, Burdens & Grief

    Storytelling, Burdens & Grief

    So, you may have noticed (or not, it’s ok) that I went out, changed the look of my blog, announced it, and then let it sit. Is anyone really surprised by this? Yeah, me either. It’s kind of on point for my spotty writing over the last eight years. But today I decided to take…

  • Rick,

    Well shit, dude. Sorry for the language, generations of ancestors just recoiled starting with my Mom, but just shit. When I foot-in-mouth texted (a new thing now) and called you out for “ghosting me,” I imagined several quick-witted, sassy retorts except the one I received. “This is Heather using Rick’s phone. I’m so sorry to…

  • I Don’t Know, It Depends: Wisdom from an Unwise Person For Lori

    I have a Facebook page for The Big Blue Mess, which I don’t really go around advertising since it just mirrors my normal Facebook page and is mostly there to say, “Look, friends who read this thing. I made words with my hands again!” And if I’ve done my job and the FB algorithm gods…

  • A Metaphor About a Rock

    Hubris told me that I could take any topic thrown my way and spin it into a story. “Beth, write a metaphor about a rock.” I paused on “metaphor,” brain fumbling – a metaphor about a rock. “My writing relies on anecdotes,” I weakly protested. That’s always my fall back – anecdotes or rants –…

  • Support

    The death of Jay by suicide is the most devastating event I have yet to experience. To lose someone so suddenly, so definitively, and so needlessly ripped out a big piece of my heart. I spend a lot of time talking about the aftermath of surviving Jay’s death, about my struggles, about the struggles of…

  • Mosaic

    This past year I joined a Facebook group for spouses/partners who’ve lost a loved one to suicide. While I have this incredibly supportive network of family and friends who are always there for me, our loss is different. They lost a beloved son, a son-in-law, a brother, an uncle, or a friend. In a lot…

  • Pick Up the Phone

    Thursday night a good friend of mine experienced what I imagine is one of the most profoundly painful and tragic moments in her life. Her 30-year-old son murdered her husband at their home. Their tragedy played across the local news with photos of police officers entering the lobby of their condo, their son pinned to…

  • The Cruise: Final Installment

    I suppose I’ve dragged this out long enough. This declaration has nothing to do with me running out of story ideas. Nosirree. Well, maybe… So, let me start where we started – the part where I decided I wasn’t a cruise girl, and the why behind it, picking up after some Galveston gal named Ginger…

  • A Year Ago: A Cruise Story

    On March 4th, 2017, sometime after noon, I completely ruptured my anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), and my medial collateral ligament (MCL) after slipping in some mud on the Warrior Dash. For my efforts, I was rewarded with an annoying physical therapist who called me “Miss Beth” constantly, a metal cane, and a disabled parking permit.…