She Was Everything

This story is a tribute to my mother. She was the center of twelve lives--myself and my eleven siblings. On our living room wall was an oval clock with twelve smaller ovals with our pictures in them by birth order. An oval in the center contained a picture of my parents. This story honors the ordinary magic of my mother who made us all feel like we were all the favorite. She was the heartbeat of a home stitched together with love and laughter. In a world of scarcity, she was an abundance of spirit, humor, and grace. This is not just her story. It's theirs. It's ours. It's yours.

-- Roger Dale Brutlag