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Witness
More often than not, though, those ideas end up taking on a life of their own once I finally dedicate myself to being their conduit to a heartbeat. It’s like—not a birth—but a coming-of-age. And every, single time, that journey through puberty, adolescence, and into adulthood for my stories also spells a coming-of-age for me.
Traces
I look around at the dining room and am suddenly viewing echoes of our lives lived within these four walls. Ghost scenes of homework being done at the table. My daughter making cookies for the first time in our kitchen. My favorite people in the whole world joking and bonding…These traces of shared life are too much, and I start sobbing again.
Unraveled
There are days when the noise is too loud—when the talk of new wars, sacrifice, and uncertainty makes even something as simple as a cup of tea with a silly hat-wearing friend feel impossible. And still, we show up. We love. We try. We endure.
Madness
Our service members often fight for the “unlovable.” They don’t get the luxury to linger at the top of the hole. They jump and they fight. Maybe that is the approach we need to take with those who are “unlovable” in our lives.
Beginnings
Follow along below to witness the very first VSP Writers’ Retreat. In February 2026, Veteran and active duty military spouses travelled from six different states to create, to bond, to celebrate the beautiful fragility of being broken open.
Love
That night, as I lie in our bed alone, I feel it…the loneliness. The absence of his breathing on the pillow beside me turns the room into a vacuum. The missing warmth of his body, his chest beneath my head, the rhythmic thud of his heartbeat – I’ve forgotten how to live without them.
This feels like deployment. Not just the absence but the underlying worry. It’s always there, always in your throat, behind your eyeballs, shoved under your fingernails.