A mom collapses in the midst of a Boy Scout hike. Tween boys don’t notice and continue frolicking. Mom begins tripping on the mushrooms she ate earlier. Tween boys continue frolicking. Mom delivers a high-key Shakespearean death soliloquy about how she wishes to return to the nurturing mother earth. Boys argue amongst themselves about the terms of the game they are playing, failing to observe that their parent is keening, eating wood chips, and attempting to bury herself in fallen leaves so she can be reabsorbed into the earth like the twin placentae she buried years before.
Tag Archives: midlife
The Brood: The “Childishness” of the Eighty-somethings (#lifegoals)
by Holly Mohr Eighty-somethings are some of my new favorite people. Almost every time I meet someone new who is really excited about life, has a deeply wise perspective and a mischievous glint in their eyes, I learn they’re in their eighties. These eighty-year-olds I know, they write subversive theology, participate in social justice groups,Continue reading “The Brood: The “Childishness” of the Eighty-somethings (#lifegoals)”
The Brood: Transition
So much happened in those years. I nursed my last baby and celebrated my first teenager. I concluded my teaching career. I walked with my husband through the loss of a parent. I battled with my child through a series of mental health crises. I ghosted the Church. I separated from friends. I sheltered my family through a pandemic. I never wrote about what was happening, though, only what it felt like.
Like grasping at vapor. Like fighting in a fog. Like abandoning my humanity and becoming an android. Like disappearing into myself.
Sick Pilgrim 