Catherine Gigante-Brown

I asked a handful of women: why are people so scared of ladyparts?

“It’s almost as though this niche was patiently waiting for us to find it.”

The hell with his elaborate metaphors and rhetorical phrases. Iambic pentameter is cruel and unusual punishment.

Alas, I am the lone female in a house full of men. Only two men, but they take up a lot of space.

herbalist. shiatsu practitioner. healer.

What Stephen didn’t know –– what no one knew –– was how weak my knees grew when I pushed through the swinging doors of the ICU.

We’ve pieced ourselves back together in a patchwork quilt of ragged emotions. The aftermath of 9/11 wasn’t easy for us, yet it was much easier than for some. People standing 50 feet away from Peter didn’t come home that night; he did.

That’s the thing about being a breast cancer survivor — it’s always there: it never goes away. The scars, the fear that lurks in the back of your mind like a boogeyman. You’re going along nicely, living your merry life, and you’re fine, until you’re not.

Anne Lamott's Operating Instructions wasn't your typical cutesie baby fare. It was raw, real—and unabashedly funny.

I try. I really do. But whenever I attempt to embrace my husband Peter’s Cuban culture, I always screw up.