Open Book and Wine Stains

    I believe in fairies! I believe in fairies! I BELIEVE in fairies!      Actually though, I was pretty convinced I was going to turn into a dragon until I was 12. Like- I seriously thought my veins were scales and my shoulder pains were wings growing in. This all stemmed from a love of fantasy that goes back as long as I can remember. I think a lot of it came from my Granny.      Joanne Lynagh was magical. At her funeral, all 9 grandchildren talked about the day they realized they were actually related to her. I was sure she was the Queen of all Mythical Creatures (still might be) . O n my day, I figured out that that made me a princess! I was pretty sure that also meant I got to become a dragon. Granny used to take me fairy hunting at her house in the North Carolina mountains. She would read to me about all of the mischief the fairies got into, and then we'd be off- looking for circles of mushrooms or fairy houses. She was also the first to ge...

When I was a kid, adjectives used to describe me were often prefaced with “too.” But my favorite words ended in “er.” I distinctly remember declaring myself “Sammy longer-faster-higher (and what other adverb I was currently feeling) Lynagh.” I wanted to experience everything! I wanted to swing so well that I flipped right over the swing set. I wanted to sing the highest note so loud that I was the only one who had to sing it. I wanted to write a novel, train my dog in agility courses, and start a chalk-art based annual charity event. I wanted to do it all. **I still do.      The funny thing I’ve noticed is that we all commend and idolize those individuals who have done incredible things, but when the people around us want to do these things- we recoil. I’ve come up with a theory: we don’t want to see those close to us go above and beyond because then we will have to question why we don’t ourselves. That’s why we fawn over people who have hiked the Appalachian Trail, bu...