by jo | Jul 15, 2014 | Everyday Stories, Myths & Cliches
Tackling myths & clichés: When Life gives you lemons, make lemonade First of all, life doesn’t give you lemons. But since we’re talking about them, you know who has a lot of lemons? The Italians. And they’re some of the warmest, happiest people out there. Go to...
by jo | Jul 8, 2014 | Everyday Stories
A few weeks ago I wrote my own eulogy. It’s a writing exercise I’d heard of many times, but one I had never done. But, I’ve thought about my own death since I was a young kid. As someone who always assumed I’d die young (a belief I’m just...
by jo | May 13, 2014 | Everyday Stories, Travel
I was in the famous Powell’s bookstore in Portland, spending over an hour browsing through their cards-and-quirky-things section when I pulled up one of the last cards that caught my eye, and it made me freeze. In the middle of Powell’s, I could see people meandering...
by jo | Mar 6, 2014 | Everyday Stories
Dear Julie, It’s been 10 years. How can that be? 10 years of life without you. 10 years of this ache in my heart and stinging sensation in my eyes and nose when people speak of loss. When they experience grief, my heart breaks for them, because I still know the...
by jo | Oct 3, 2013 | Everyday Stories, Published Pieces
North State Voices: A grandmother’s legacy of love and life by Joanna O’Hanlon She didn’t want my sister’s grave to be alone. She was nearing death — she had been nearing it for over a decade — and yet as she was thinking about her final...