With Intro By Michelle Kennedy I have spent much of my life near the ocean. As I’ve gotten older, and I have traveled so much more, I’ve gotten to see lots of different versions of the ocean. I grew up visiting the Atlantic Ocean in Ocean City, Maryland. My parents […]
The Involuntary Atheist
Trying to find God in my great-grandmother’s apartment in downtown Baltimore. My great-grandmother was named Esther and her tiny apartment was up an elevator and down a hall that smelled like beef soup. It had a very school lunch smell about it – not that I ever bought school lunch. […]
I am tired of feeling fat.
I am brutal to myself. I shame myself constantly for not being successful enough, patient enough, thin enough. I am tired of shaming myself. So much so that I’ve adopted a new mantra. Eat when I’m hungry. Stretch. Move. Work hard. Go outside. Read. Clean. Do the hard things, but […]
Crone: Now in my 50’s, I embrace this term.
My ex-husband called me this once. I was probably in my late 30’s. He said it to be mean. He knew I was struggling with getting older — a bit of an almost 40 mid-life crisis. And I was offended. Seriously offended. Also really hurt. He frequently made comments about […]
8 Things to Remember if You Don’t Know What to Do with the Rest of Your Life
Sometimes in life, we find ourselves at a dead end, or a crossroads, or on a path that seems to go nowhere and say “I don’t know what to do with my life…” No matter what stage you are at in life, if you are unhappy with it, or unsure […]
Mothers who sell
Previously published at: https://www.salon.com/2002/10/01/sales1/ “Hello?” A tentative voice answers the phone. “Good morning, Ma’am,” I say. “This is Michelle from M— and I’m calling to find out why you decided to give up your executive credit card.” “Well, uh,” the voice stammers, “you charged me late fees when I was […]
Mothering is Often Disappointing, but it’s Not Because of the Kids
Lessons learned from mothering many… Being a mother is often a disappointing endeavor. I don’t mean that the kids are disappointing — definitely not. They amaze me all the time. But the job of mother itself can be fairly disappointing overall. I think, it’s in part, due to the expectations […]
It’s the little things…
This morning I cried while buttering my bagel. And while yes, I believe butter on a bagel is that beautiful, that’s not why I cried. I cried because I felt lucky to have the bagel. I felt, believe it or not, proud to have this bagel — and the five […]
Without a Net: Middle Class and Homeless (with Kids) in America
From Publisher’s Weekly: “You’d think it’d take a while to go from “given-every-opportunity, spoiled-in-every-way… middle-class housewife… to homeless single mother,” but Kennedy did it in less than a year. Just some “bad judgment calls and wrong decisions,” and a smart young former Senate page and promising college student found herself, […]