In Sweetness and Love is 160 pages of absolutely stunning Kodachrome photographs taken in the mid 1950s to 1960s by my great-grandparents John and Mabel Moore accompanied by poignant quotes, lyrics, and excerpts.
They spent as much time traveling as they did at home and locations captured include Wyoming, California, New Mexico, Hawaii, New York, Guam, Arizona, and the Philippines.
My sincerest gratitude to them for their diligence in documenting their later years and thus providing me with such a vivid glimpse into the beautifully small but significant intricacies of their wonderful lives 60 years later.
Read More“On the girl's brown legs there were many small white scars. I was thinking, Do those scars cover the whole of you, like the stars and the moons on your dress? I thought that would be pretty too, and I ask you right here please to agree with me that a scar is never ugly. That is what the scar makers want us to think. But you and I, we must make an agreement to defy them. We must see all scars as beauty. Okay? This will be our secret. Because take it from me, a scar does not form on the dying. A scar means, I survived.” ―Chris Cleave
Read More"It's amazing how some things on earth are true reflections of what we see in the sky. Like, there really is order to this psychotic place."
Read More"I can't let go. I can't look forward.
words, so many words - straining to convey inconsequential thoughts; but almost the equivalent of bleeding for me. and this is healthier. I believe."
Read More"We talked about all the plans we had growing up -and the fact that we followed through with none of them. We laughed about all kinds of things. and for the first time in years I felt like we were 11 years old again and all that rough history we have between us was gone; like we started over with a clean slate, with no past except the pretty pieces no one ever wants to forget."
Read MoreToday, today at the dentist my hygienist said to me: "Well it's a good thing you're beautiful!" after my good 5-minute rant about my bad hearing, bad eyesight, dislocated jaw, among other things. My bad genetics.
And I swear I smiled so big I almost cried, even though I only half believed her.
Read More"Never grow a wishbone, daughter, where your backbone ought to be." —Clementine Paddleford
Read More"My pride has been fighting with the pain of the potential of a life without him.
Will I even survive this?"
Read MoreWhen you're your biggest enemy...well that's absolutely miserable but when the person you love most in the world seems to consider you their biggest enemy ..that's a totally different kind of Hell.
Read More"Maybe none of this actually means anything if I don't have him. And maybe I hate myself for that.
And maybe I even hate him for that."
Read More“Even though I think about you every day. I don’t think of you anymore.
Memories, yesterday, people have all become outlines, silhouettes –
all distractions from my real life.
…from the life I’m supposed to be living now."
Read More"I was almost late to work this morning because I was in bed dreaming about how I was late to work. And laying next to me was the first boy I ever kissed. I mumbled something like "Let's call in sick" and he concurred. We stayed in the big warm comfy bed with our legs intertwined. Skin, touching, sticking."
Read More“I’m taking something to be happy
I must be happy.
What’s happy?
Have I ever been truly happy?
Do I just try to convince myself I’m happy when I’m not?
Do I try to convince myself I’m depressed when I’m not?"
Read More“She complained about the freckles on her face, her chlorine green hair, and the centimeters of flesh that “hung over” her pants.
(but she called it fat.)
She’s almost 6’0 tall and about 150 pounds. And she said she was told if she ever wanted to pursue modeling, she’d have to do it as a plus-size model.”
Read More“When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure.” —Peter Marshall
Read More"How is one to live a moral and compassionate existence when one is fully aware of the blood, the horror inherent in life, when one finds darkness not only in one's culture but within oneself? If there is a stage at which an individual life becomes truly adult, it must be when one grasps the irony in its unfolding and accepts responsibility for a life lived in the midst of such paradox. One must live in the middle of contradiction, because if all contradiction were eliminated at once life would collapse. There are simply no answers to some of the great pressing questions. You continue to live them out, making your life a worthy expression of leaning into the light." —Barry Lopez
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