healing

My Black to Green Thumb

For years I prided myself on my Black Thumb, the inability to grow green things. There were benefits. It meant no fuss, water stains, and dead leaves. Then my unexpected Green Thumb, developed over the pandemic, filled my home with unexpected energy. Many of you already know this, so forgive my wide-eyed, toddler-type discovery. Plants […]

Suzette and her three husbands by Suzette Standring

Let’s get something out of the way.  I’m 68 and I have been married three times.  As they say, the third’s a charm. I am not embarrassed, although the wife of my first ex-husband did try.  At my daughter’s wedding, she loudly said, “I want a picture of Suzette and her three husbands!”   Since […]

Meditating with felons by Suzette Standring

When I taught a meditation class at a men’s state prison, one writing prompt was “my favorite room.” One inmate’s memory took our breath away.

Meatless and Motivated: Boosting Black Veganism

In the realm of healthier eating, Black Americans are the fastest growing group of vegans, according to a Gallup poll. Veganism is a plant-based diet that excludes all meat, fish and all animal by-products. One Brockton couple is bringing more people of color into the fold.

My mother’s unloved diamond ring

We treasure what loved ones left behind, like a favorite piece of jewelry. Or was it? My mother’s engagement ring has quite a story, and now at age 67, I understand why she never wore it. She married my dad in 1950, and later in the 1980’s, after my mother’s death, the sparkly European-cut diamond […]