Skip to content

Melissa Kutsche

  • Blog
  • About
  • Featured Writing
  • Newsletter

Tag: Loss

Motherhood

Sunshower

I keep my sunglasses on when we enter the building. To remove them would reveal my red, swollen eyes to the world, and I don’t have the energy to fend off empathetic looks or questions. Not today.  It’s my daughter’s fifth birthday, and we’ve brought treats for her class: 14 little hedgehog cupcakes. My daughter leads us down the basement hallway; she’s nearly running in … Continue reading Sunshower

Melissa KutscheOctober 15, 2021January 21, 2022Leave a comment

I’m Melissa, mama to three littles, military spouse, writer, and bookworm. I love afternoon lattes, bookstores, and spontaneous dance parties.

Instagram

Slip, slide, swear, and cry your way through the Game of Deployment! Allow the Air Force to spin on your behalf to see how you can get through each day without going insane while your partner works in an undisclosed desert region on the other side of the world. See which new curse words enter your daily vocabulary! Burn with resentment as your spouse gets uninterrupted sleep each night and you clean vomit out of bed sheets at two o’clock in the morning. Will your spouse be home for the holidays? Will he miss every single birthday this year? Will your geriatric dog still be alive when he returns? Keep bumbling along until you, the pawn, greet your spouse at the airport and he can comment on your undereye circles and ask, “Have you always had those gray hairs?” But watch out! If the Air Force says so, you go all the way back to start at any point in the game! ​​​​​​​​
Mrs. M was my second grade teacher, and she made magic. Every Friday, Mrs. M proved she could see through walls. She waited in the coatroom while a student held up 1-10 fingers for all of us to see. Mrs. M returned to the classroom, and without fail, she guessed the secret number every time. All the kids laughed in disbelief except for me—I got to help with the magic.​​​​​​​​
I recently discovered that my daughter has been setting her alarm for 6:00 a.m. so she can squeeze in some reading time before school. ​​​​​​​​
This is 37.​​​​​​​​
Earlier this week, poet @nikita_gill shared her poem, "Reasons to Live Through the Apocalypse" with @theisolationjournals along with a prompt for readers to make their own list of reasons. This is my response, and it was a lovely exercise to look forward with hope.​​​​​​​​
I've followed Suleika Jaouad for awhile and find her words to be captivating and inspiring. While in Austin earlier this month, I visited @bookpeople and finally picked up a copy of Jaouad's memoir, "Between Two Kingdoms." I loved everything about this read, from the gifted storytelling to the cover picture of Suleika and Oscar on the tangerine camper van. While I have not battled illness, I connected deeply with the idea of living in the "in between" and understood some of the anxieties and uncertainty of re-entry Jaouad describes. Her words do not preach or prescribe, but simply by sharing her experience and leaving space for what is still unknown, Suleika taught me so much. I'm glad I have a copy for my bookshelf, and I know I'll revisit this one again. ​​​​​​​​
BREAKING NEWS:​​​​​​​​
For that smile...I would pick every flower in the neighborhood, but he is content with a little yellow weed, and I just love that. ​​​​​​​​
Holy Week and Resurrection Sunday were full of questions from the kids: ​​​​​​​​

© 2019-2022 Melissa Kutsche. All rights reserved.

Create a website or blog at WordPress.com
  • Follow Following
    • Melissa Kutsche
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Melissa Kutsche
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar