I am...Mrs. Fraser

I am…

small-town sports, a life in the country
and the desire to be a good girl

two younger sisters, who really know me and love me anyway

riding horses bareback with my cousins and
picking vegetables
from my grandparents’ garden 

domino games and stories around an old kitchen table in Oklahoma 

shopping in a Ford Crown Victoria
piloted by my lead-footed grandmother 

Drury College, where I learned about Alice Walker,
the secrets of ПBФ,
how to live with roommates,
and that the world is much
bigger than Cassville, Mo.

Ryan, who knows I don’t like to talk when I first wake up,
who loves me even though I don’t like to cook, and who every day
tells me how pretty and smart I am, even on days I’m not.

Macauley, a junior with his own car and a job and
the start of his own life,
with a clever sense of humor
and a kind, sensitive heart,
my sunshine when skies are grey

I am…

sweet tea and chocolate milk, chips and guacamole 

pets on the furniture

puffy, comfy white couches, ironstone plates and pitchers,
chippy white furniture, burlap and linen,
mismatched silverware and old photos,
flea market finds and treasures that make me smile.

a tattered teddy bear bought with my birthday money
in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, when I was 8

tightly folded notes passed between teenage boys and girls
in class and church

photos and scrapbooks and a project always in the works.

books on my nightstand and magazines on the floor

sleeping late on weekends (especially when it rains)
in a bed with lots of covers and feather pillows

dark blue eyes and my dad’s olive skin,
black-framed glasses when I read or watch TV.

jeans and ankle boots, lots of black,
hair that always ends up in a messy ponytail,
Uggs and sweatshirt.

I am…

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is
fighting a hard battle.” (John Watson)

“Everyone you will ever meet
knows something you don’t.” (Bill Nye the Science Guy)

“Let it be…let it be…
There will be an answer…let it be.” (The Beatles)

“Grief, I’ve learned, is really just love.
It’s all the love you want to give, but cannot.
All that unspent love gathers up in the corners of your eyes,
the lump in your throat,
and in that hollow part of your chest…
Grief is just love with no place to go.” (Jamie Anderson)