Two weeks ago today, our worlds intersected on the 12th Street Bridge. It was just the two of us. I was on my way home. You were seconds away from ending everything. I was unwitting. You were despondent. You climbed on the railing. I wondered what…but before I could even finish the thought, you jumped. Life had its way with you, dear one, and gravity finished the job. I was the sole witness to your final tortured moments. I was somehow able to call 9-1-1, to…
This is what it is. This is where we are. It’s not what we expected. But it’s what we’ve been given to work with. Splendid sunsets and war zones. Soft faces and ranting diatribes. A pissed-off teenager with a Twitter account. Mayhem and innovation. Light and rain. Pleasure and pain. We roll out another morning, hunting under sofa cushions for spare change, playing chicken with the gas gauge one more day, deciphering secrets long after the fact. Tough love. Empty nest. Twists…
It seems the world has gone mad. There are airstrikes (again) in Iraq. Brief, uneasy ceasefires notwithstanding, there is fighting (still) on the Gaza Strip. Ebola continues its somber rage across West Africa. Airplanes are blown from the sky or fall silently to points unknown and never found. Closer to home, frightened children are detained at the border. Mothers fall to their knees as senseless shootings crackle through summer nights again and again and again. Smart and willing souls struggle to find…
A few days ago, I celebrated my 52nd birthday. It was a low-key day without much fuss and hoopla. As far as passages go, 52 is a benign year. Nobody is excitedly awaiting your arrival but they haven’t called in the gravediggers yet either. It’s a good place from which to float and observe. Considering you’re past the midway point on the giant climb, the view is vast. It spans all directions, inside and out. Oprah is always going on about “what I know for…
Dedicated, with mad love always, to my fabulous E's. Mother’s Day. For such a quirky little holiday, it sure kicks up a lot of emotional dust. I'm not particularly sentimental but I've been reminiscing a bit lately. In honor of the day, here are 15 things I wish my mother had told me: 1. It’s important to take care of yourself, no matter what. You have to attend to your physical, emotional, mental and spiritual needs on a daily basis. Sleep. Eat clean. Breath deeply.…
Last week, a local organization announced the finalists for an annual vocal competition that it hosts. These finalists will sing at Jazz Alley for a shot at winning a trip to Japan. Throughout the afternoon after the announcement was made, I received emails and texts from a handful of vocalists, friends who did not make the cut. Their reactions ran the gamut from perplexed to downright miserable. (I should add that all of these women are great singers.) We talked about a lot of…
Just to make it clear from the outset here, this isn't the post I wanted to write today. It wasn't part of the plan. This isn't a topic I have any interest in poking at publicly and this certainly isn't the territory I want to stray into on this blog. Nope. But with Typhoon Haiyan and the attendant devastation to our world neighbors, all the old quandaries have come screaming back. Suffering. Spiritual conundrums. Searching. Try as I may to pull the flow in other…
It seems that all roads lead back to grace and love. For the past several days, I’ve watched as a community has shared collective grief over the untimely passing of one of its own– Joshua Wolff, who died yesterday from pancreatic cancer. Joshua was a highly regarded jazz pianist and even more, a great spirit who clearly touched the hearts of many. From the time of his diagnosis, just over a week ago, to his death yesterday, Joshua’s friends and family have held a…
An Open Letter to LGBT Youth, My name is Katy. I live in Seattle. I am a writer, a jazz singer and the proud mother of a wonderful gay teenage son. You don’t know me. We’ve never met. But I am writing today to deliver this message: YOU MATTER You matter a lot. You are important. You are perfect just the way you are. You have a right to live with pride and dignity. You deserve your spot on this planet. By virtue of…
