In my life of care, rare disease, disability, and interdependence, I often wonder what I can say to offer parents who are new to disability. How could I begin to summarize and write something useful when all our lives are unique? So I ended up writing a sort of letter to my younger self, to the self in the beginning of parenthood who was both terrified and deeply committed to learning how to parent our incredible child. Unfortunately, I don’t know how to time travel (yet?); I offer it out, hoping some part of it resonates with readers, whether they are parents or not.

Krista Lee Hanson (she/her) lives in Seattle, home of the Coast Salish people, with her partner and two incredible children; her writing has appeared in The Rumpus, The Normal School, and The Write Launch, among other publications.

Show up Late, Show up Early, Show up Uninvited by Krista Lee Hanson, nonfiction

Davon Loeb reads "Like Gladiators," first published in Tahoma Literary Review, Volume 3, Issue 1.

Davon Loeb, "Like Gladiators"

Janet Bowdan lives in Northampton, Massachusetts, with her husband, son, and sometimes a lovely stepdaughter or two.

Tahoma Literary Review actually started me thinking about the challenge of the long poem: what could sustain a poem, a poet, a reader for that amount of time? I thought a letter could be both friendly and expansive. Obviously this poem has its soundtrack. The Broadway musical has conventions, like the “I want” song, but it also follows a story form (exciting beginning, neat wrap-up) that comes full circle.  But the poem is now, where we have no clear path or outcome, so it must go forward.

Show up Late, Show up Early, Show up Uninvited by Krista Lee Hanson, nonfiction

TahomaLiterary

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