Tre Miller Rodriguez's Blog, page 88
January 7, 2014
"I just read “Splitting the Difference” and cried practically the whole way through. I..."
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—Taylor, Arizona (daisyannconfused)
January 5, 2014
Jar of 2013: Because Gratitude
Like every other girl on Pinterest last January, I saw the idea for a grateful jar: recognize moments/milestones/gifts for which you’re grateful & write ‘em down in real time. Drop them into a designated jar to read a year later.
Today is one year later and I’m surrounded by scraps of paper representing the high points of 2013. Life-changing moments like “my memoir launched today” are beside “Huge Trader Joe’s is four avenue blocks from my place!” I relive the relief of “no complications with Mom’s angiogram” and “Dad was granted a three-month medical leave.”
I’m flashing back to “Jessica Todd’s Tumblr campaign” to secure a reading for me in North Carolina and the surreality of “seeing my Modern Love essay in print” in The New York Times. I’m giddy all over again when I see “Marie Claire Australia commissioned side-by-side essays from me and Laurie!” (April 2014 issue) and “The Marie Show with Laurie” for Mother’s Day.
I am holding scraps of evidence for a year of firsts: for my writing career and my role as new mom to my 20-year-old-daughter, Laurie. But a part of me struggles to assimilate these milestones—2013 seems like my most fulfilling year to date?—in the context of my loss. As in, how did I manage this without Alberto? How was he not present for these milestones?
And then I remember the well-timed heart shapes, the inexplicable signs, the perfect day with his mother, the conversations we shared in my dreams. And feel like he missed exactly none of it.
December 29, 2013
Flight was delayed (but the signs never are).
Flight was delayed (but the signs never are).
Mad birthday love to you, Laurie Rae, from your biggest fans....
Mad birthday love to you, Laurie Rae, from your biggest fans. NYC can’t wait to host you next year for your 21st. In the meantime, go shorty: it’s your birthday!
December 28, 2013
Celebrating a happy snappy sappy birthday with my Moms...
Celebrating a happy snappy sappy birthday with my Moms #pleaseletmelooklikeherat60something
Celebrating a happy snappy sappy birthday tonight with Moms!
Celebrating a happy snappy sappy birthday tonight with Moms!
December 24, 2013
14 minutes into road trip with the ‘rents can be summed up...
14 minutes into road trip with the ‘rents can be summed up with this face. #shouldabroughtaflask
14 minutes into road trip with the ‘rents can be summed up with...
14 minutes into road trip with the ‘rents can be summed up with this face.
December 23, 2013
No Christmas Tree, No Christmas Tree
Amid the whirlwind of TV meetings and family get-togethers in California, my December column for Modern Loss has gone live. In it, I share my ambiguity about holiday decorating as a widow and consider a different approach for 2014. Your Facebook like/Tweet/comment on the site is the only reason my editors continue to let me spew from the heart. (Thank you times Tumblr for clicking the Read More button below.)
'Twas the Fight Before Christmas
On my eighth date with Alberto, I married him. I was a 30-year-old publicist from Los Angeles and he was a New York ad man who was seven years my senior. I knew his birthday and middle name, but not that his Cuban family always opened gifts on Christmas Eve — Noche Buena — and flew somewhere tropical or arctic on Christmas Day.
He didn’t realize I never opened gifts until December 25, or that I came with three decades of Christmas ornaments.
December 22, 2013
"I placed my son in an open adoption when I was 20. Seven years ago, my brother was killed in a car..."
- —Julie, America
