Author: Kate Franken “Do you have children?” “Are you married?” I get that these are questions most women often ask as a cordial attempt to get acquainted. Their success rate in forging a connection amongst my female counterparts is high, but their ability to alienate someone in my current stage of life is just as…
Author: anchoredvoice
Beauty for Ashes
By: Holly Berg Three years ago we bought our son an adorable little t-shirt: “Big Brother Team Captain”, it said. He wore it to Grandma and Grandpa’s house that evening – he was so excited to share the big secret he had been keeping. My husband’s parents were ecstatic – they had been waiting for a second grandchild since…
Temporary Dad
Author: Josh Hawes I experienced something most fathers simultaneously dread, and consider one of their proudest moments in life. I took the arm of a young woman dressed in white and escorted her down the aisle to give her away to the man she loves. Though she wasn’t my daughter, and in actuality is slightly…
Defeating Debt
Author: Krissa Dorfner I sat in my room and cried. I sank into the hideous floral printed couch processing what my boyfriend had just shared with me. He had made poor financial decisions while working through college and the debt had accumulated. Was I sure I wanted to tie my life to his when it…
Faith and Hockey Sticks
Author: Holly Berg Two years ago my husband and I signed our son up for skating lessons. He’s been dreaming about playing hockey since he was old enough to walk. He was born in Oil Country, he bleeds copper and blue – heck, he even eats dinner sitting below a framed photo of his dad with Ryan…
When Dreams Change
Author: Holly Berg “Well?” he said, waiting for an answer. “What are you going to do?” We were sitting in his office – him, leaning back in his chair with his feet on his desk, me, in the swivel chair across from him with my feet tucked beneath me, spinning myself around and around and around as…
When Kindness Teaches
Author: The Transformed Teacher As a teacher, June always brings mixed emotions. Sadness creeps in as students start to hug me tight and express words of sorrow over leaving me as the end of the school year arrives. A great joy overtakes me as I ponder and reflect on all the ways students grew, especially…
Identity Crisis
Author: Kate Franken The words “identity crisis” generally evoke images of a pimple faced teenager and a middle aged silver-haired man that seeks comfort in adultery and a new red sports car. This worldly association leads one to believe that identity crisis is largely confined to two occurrences, once in adolescence and then again somewhere…
Hope After the Psych Ward
Author: Sarah L. Sanderson A few hours after my discharge from the psychiatric ward of our local hospital, I walked over to my daughter’s elementary school to pick her up from first grade. It was the end of October, and the trees bore fewer leaves than when I’d last seen them, four days before. As…
The New Page
Author: Kate Franken I was going through school to become a teacher, I remember expressing delight in having chosen a career in which I could embrace change each school year. Change was plausible, whether it be a change in students or a change in grade level. And now, in my tenth year of teaching, I detest September….
Anchored Voices 