I became a better person because of Alzheimer's disease. I had the rare privilege of working in the dementia unit of a nursing home for several years. The lives I encountered there were unique. Their stories both heartbreaking and life-affirming. Those five years were some of the hardest years of my life, personally. I had…
A Prayer for Today
Help. That was the prayer of our pastor yesterday in church. Just -- Help. She didn't have any other words. No comfort, no platitudes, no trying to explain what happened. Just heartbreak. And a heart cry of --HELP. Help - the panicked cries and frantic texts from inside Pulse, as bullets flew and an LGBT sanctuary…
Coup De’Shoe
Shoes, of all things, have been sort of a 'thing' for me over the past year. It started when I walked into the UU church in Boiling Springs, and the pastor there was wearing completely impractical, gorgeous, bright shoes with her robe. Those shoes...looked like rebellion. They made me grin a gleefully naughty grin. They…
Riding in Style
This time 5 years ago, my only means of transportation was a bicycle. Yes. A bicycle. Yes, it was pretty funny watching me wobble down the streets of Carlisle on it. No, I never actually got very good at riding it, but I managed to get from point A to point B. I didn’t have…
A Visit to Ground Zero
“I don't think that I'll ever be 'dulled' when it comes to the vividness of what I’ve seen at ground zero, especially on that first day If one could ever glimpse hell.....but also, community at it's truest form....if one could ever glimpse heaven......” I wrote those words on October 11, 2001, just after returning from…
A Passover for the Passed-Over
Why is this night different from all other nights? This question will be asked in households all over the world tonight as people of Jewish faith and tradition gather together for their Seder meals. The four questions – Why is this night different? Why only matzah? Why the bitter herbs? Why are we relaxing and…
Keep the Home Fires Burning…But Not Literally
Most people rent their first “grown up apartment” when they are in their early 20’s – after college, once they’re on their own. Me? It took me a little longer. I rented my first “grown up apartment” on January 5, 2012, when I was 32 years old. Until that point, I’d lived in a parsonage…
Shoe Envy
Susan Hershey is *MUCH* cooler than Christin Kapp. Susan is stylish, confident, popular, wears fabulous shoes and bright lipstick, lots of eyeshadow, and has hair with volume to spare. She goes to the club with her friends, and meets them for dinner after their dance class. She’s COOL. She’s not awkward or anxious, or self-conscious.…
Reaching
“Christin has a song for everything” is a phrase I’ve heard over and over, my entire life. I am, unashamedly, a nut who WILL break into song at any given moment. Consider yourself forewarned. I’ve very literally curated a soundtrack for my life. A certain song can come on the radio, or pop up in…
With a Little Help From my Friends…
What would you think if I sang out of tune Would you stand up and walk out on me? Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song And I'll try not to sing out of key To say that this past week has been difficult would be a bit of an understatement. For…
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