Lesley S. King

I call on the Beloved and easily sign my name on an agreement to lease out my late mother’s house. While the new tenants sign, I glance at the kitchen where we stand, its white counter and clean paint. Though darkness settles out the window, here all is bright. But later, back at my own [...]

I stand within my late mother’s empty bedroom, where the scent of mildew taints the air. I note the empty wall where the TV hung and the four indentations on the carpet where the bed sat. Only a few piles of miscellaneous things clutter the floor. Most absent is the beautiful being with whom I [...]

My mind feared facing life after my mother passed on to her next adventure. However, I’ve come to see that when I stay with the Beloved, the moments of sadness come and I cry and then they go. I stay in the now and let them pass like waves. They soften me and open my [...]

Recently I disappointed a friend. We were to meet up and I didn’t show. I apologized but was not forgiven. So I sit with a heavy heart. In the face of her anger my mind has a dozen excuses. My mother just transitioned. I haven’t slept. I’m planning a memorial service for 75. In the [...]

It’s Saturday night, and just as I settle under the bed covers, the phone rings. I pick up and hear the voice of my mother’s caregiver. “She has a nosebleed that’s not stopping.” I call on the Beloved. My mom comes on the line. “I’m pressing the button,” she says, meaning her Lifeline, a signal [...]

Every experience is a journey in spirit. A poem by my friend Mary Johnston illustrates this perfectly. My Lesson from Boston There was a terrorist attack at my front door today The bomb was constructed meticulously with wires of worry and angst over all that had to be done in a day The explosive fuel [...]

Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel that crushed it.—Mark Twain I awaken from my first full night of sleep in weeks. Lemony sun shines in the window, and when I stand I feel a hint of the life force that faded during my two-week illness. In my spiritual practice my body [...]

Today, for the first time, my mother’s dog and my cat will meet. The prospect of this makes my mouth dry and my heart pound. I want them to be friends, so that we can spend time together as a family. Even more importantly, if my cat, Arjuna, could spend the days I care for [...]

Last year just a few days after I bought a Christmas tree for my mother, it died. Its needles dried to a frank crispness, its color turned a dull sage. It shed itself onto the carpet and transformed into Charlie Brown’s original tree. All because I had a Scrooge attitude. When I set out on [...]

Sometimes my cat, Arjuna, jumps up on my desk and saunters between me and my computer screen. Sometimes when I cook, she meows and meows while tangling herself around my ankles. Sometimes while I race through the house en route to somewhere important she leaps up and wraps her legs around my thigh. Often during [...]