• Road that is empty outside Washington DC
    New Perspectives

    5 Stars

    Living in DC means taking cabs. Shawn and I took plenty of cabs for the 13 years we lived in DC together, and he always loved chatting with the drivers. I remember one time when we were going out he got into a long discussion with our driver who had fled Iran during the 1979 revolution. Our friends who were also in the cab were blown away with how much Shawn knew about the revolution. Our driver, who became Shawn’s newest best friend, was pretty impressed too. But now I’m taking cabs alone, so I prefer using a car service where I can see who my driver is. I especially…

  • Marjorie Brimley with husband Shawn at the birth of their son Tommy in hospital
    New Perspectives

    Brave Through It

    I woke up Wednesday morning with a smile on my face. I can’t remember the last time that happened. The night before, I received a text from my closest friend at work that she had delivered her first child, a boy. I had lived through her pregnancy in a way that I hadn’t ever done with my other friends. I remember helping her navigate the early days of pregnancy, getting baby bump pictures while I was in the hospital with Shawn and watching my daughter tenderly touch her belly at Shawn’s funeral. When I came back to work, we talked a lot about my life, which was sad, but we…

  • Tommy Brimley Baptism in Washington DC church
    New Perspectives

    Peace Be With You

    Getting to church on time has proven to be very difficult in the past few months.  Hell, getting anywhere on time in the past few months has been tough.  So it was no surprise when I arrived to services halfway through the first reading with my three kids last Sunday.  Austin and Claire ran ahead and found Austin’s godparents, Josh and Becky.  They were sitting in a row with their own children and an elderly couple on the aisle.  My kids starting climbing over this couple to get to Josh and Becky.  They were making a huge racket and I embarrassingly sat down in an adjacent row with Tommy.  Becky gave…

  • Shawn and Marjorie Brimley black and white photo before illness
    New Perspectives

    Who Am I?

    Last night, a friend of mine flew in from out of town and we had dinner.  We met up on 14th street and both marveled about how much it had changed from when we were in our 20s and roaming around on a Saturday night.  We had a great meal and got caught up with each other.  But at this point in time, dinner with me is never just one where I gossip with my friends.  It’s almost always a pretty intense affair. I think when I start talking about my life, it also brings out the serious side in some of my friends as well.  As we ate our…

  • Clark cousins at zoo in Washington DC
    New Perspectives

    It Doesn’t Matter

    When I turned 39, I decided that since no one was around to buy me a really nice birthday present, I would buy myself one.  Shawn and I both believed that it was important to do nice things for yourself, so I knew he would have approved.  In any case, I recently got a great new camera and I’ve spent the past few weeks taking test photos of my children. Last week, my cousin came to town and we took the kids to the zoo, so I used the opportunity to bust out my new camera and see what it could do.  I think I took about a thousand photos…