about the author
“california is full of weird people” i remember hearing people say, in response to my parents telling their friends and family they were packing up our family and moving out west. there is no way around it. moving to california was the best decision my parents made, if i have anything to say about it.
i caught my first wind in a brand spanking new hospital on the 35W in johnson county, texas at 3:45 in the morning of march 30, 1977. my mom’s doctor couldn’t be bothered with his all-important golf trip to keep his word to deliver me into this world. so a nurse had to fill in and do the job of a doctor. i suppose it wasn’t the first time a nurse had filled in for a doctor. but for this nurse, it was her’s. hearing her say a urgent prayer to god for help, mom and dad weren’t exactly relaxed. when people ask where i’m from, i always respond that i’m from texas. but then i feel this biting need to clarify as my new parents and i made a home in texas for only six short weeks after i was born.
my beautiful sister, sebrina, entered the scene in tennessee. she was full of life, which still holds true today, mothering her two kids with grace. before the days of ritalin and hyperactivity deficits, she was the rambunctious rabbit in the house. famous for retorting,” mommy, stevie hit me back”, her energy was and still is contagious. i remember one such event where she straddled my chest placing her knees on my arms, and then proceeded to attack my sternum relentlessly. or the times she would get hold of my big toe and twist the snot out of it. she had a way to getting right under my skin within seconds. just felt like we were at odds quite a bit. somewhere in highschool though, something switched. we became friends. today, i am blessed to call her one of my closest friends. i love her, tremendously.
growing up, mom and dad, were so fortunate to have sebrina and i as their children. due to the indisputable fact that we were so amazing. no but seriously, in all truth, we are ;). i remember thinking specifically around the holiday season how lucky i was to be where i am. i was surrounded by love and affirmation. at christmas dad would always want to read the story of the magi, which invariably would lead to us all crying about such a wonderful display of love. mom would make the tree ‘hers’…year to year we had some of the most modest yet gorgeous trees. i loved it when she would make hot chocolate and toast for dipping. yay carbs!! by the way a little known fact about my mom: she is the reigning queen of solitaire(though, i must say, jess comes in a close second).
almost four years ago, mom and dad moved back to texas. it was a sad day for me, as i was staying put. they had lived here in california a total of 17 years. when you move from a gorgeous piece of earth like georgia, you never think that you’ll end up living in place like southern california for nearly two decades. everything here is congested; the air, the streets, and the neighborhoods. but i will say unequivocally that the relationships i have developed here have been authentic and life-affirming. I am so thankful to the divine for the love of my friends. i love each of them. they have become family.
what follows are a few of my favorite things(in some particular order):
diviner, jess, love, grace, respect, forgiveness, gratitude, christ, equality, integrity, mi familia, music, deeply-respected friendships, health and fitness, grace, equanimity, mom’s soy-based stroganoff, study of story, the ever-unfolding moment, jess, maharshi, laughing ;), dad’s overly-sensitive yet oh so endearing heart, books where i find a little more of myself, jess, anonymously giving, writing, rainy mornings, and jess.
