When we moved to France when I was seven, my mom discovered that peanut butter was an American product. She searched high and low in every grocery store, determined to find that quick and easy lunch spread. One day, she came home with a tin can: she had finally found peanut butter in a specialty […]
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Out of Place – Melissa’s Story A stare comes from the person across from me with raised eyebrows and squinted eyes as they try to smile. A feeling of awkwardness comes over me. “Oh, I was too much!” I think to myself. “Why am I so excited talking about buying vegetables for a new recipe […]
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Every time I see the mosaic sculptures at Waterfront Park in downtown San Diego, I’m impressed. By no means are they the most awe-inspiring examples of this ancient art form, but I love the intricate pop of color they provide, set against the gray buildings of downtown. Mosaic art dates back to centuries before Christ […]
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Hello, my name is Sarah and I’m a recovering people pleaser. I do not want to let you down. I will jump through all the hoops to make sure you like me and think I’m nice. Disappointing you makes me physically uncomfortable. The temptation is strong Last year, I was approached by two moms at […]
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Out of Place Series – Brooke’s Story We have all heard the saying, “like a square peg in a round hole.” I always imagine one of those toy buckets with all the shaped pegs and the lid that has the same shape holes in the top. You know the one. Each time I hear this, […]
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One morning last week, I grabbed my pen and notebook and set out to do my daily fifteen minutes of writing. The boys were watching some morning cartoons and I pressed pause to let them know I was starting my writing. “Please don’t interrupt me for the next fifteen minutes,” I said. They nodded, eager […]
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Out of Place Series – Meghan’s Story Wringing my hands is a nervous habit. Picking at my nails, biting the inside of my lip, too. And I was doing all of that at once my first night of small group. With hesitating steps I rang the doorbell of the church, and the warm if not […]
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The first time I confronted my own racism was at the dollar store. I was in the checkout line, emptying the contents of my basket on the conveyor belt. Standing in front of me was a black mom, a little younger than me, holding her toddler. In the checkout line right next to mine, a […]
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Our identities aren’t forged in a vacuum. Each and every one of us has an origin story — a narrative that explains how and why we became the person we are today. Not just for superheroes Spiderman didn’t become a superhero overnight. The radioactive spider bite was sudden and unexpected, but Peter Parker didn’t instantly become a […]
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On the morning of my thirty-eighth birthday, I came downstairs to find a drawing from my six year-old on the counter for me. “Happy Berthday” was scrawled in pink at the top of the paper. A giant orange cat with a raccoon tail stared at me from underneath the greeting with its purple cartoon eyes. […]
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Sarah K. Butterfield 