My ride was not unique. It wasn’t surprising. It wasn’t fun. It was basically like me–comfortable, stable, and safe. No surprises. Reliable. Always there, waiting to be needed.
Van Mom No More
Diane Masiello
I am a writer and high school English teacher at a Catholic, all-girls private school. I began my teaching and writing career over 30 years ago, earning my Ph.D. in English Education from and first teaching at New York University. After I finished my degree work, my husband and I moved to Florida; I have taught at both Nova Southeastern University and The University of Tampa.
I left academia to raise two beautiful daughters and help care for my parents, which is when I turned to blogging to help me process my experiences. I started in 2003 with a LiveJournal entitled "Afternoons with Coffee Spoons" which I eventually translated over to Wordpress. In 2019 I was invited to join "The Gloria Sirens" blog, which gave me space to develop my voice.
Over the past few years, as I have raised teenagers and gone back to teaching, my writing has become more focused on the interplay of the Catholic faith, mystery, and storytelling. This has, in 2025, led me to return to writing exclusively for my own blog where I can more fully explore "Every Grace and Blessing" that God has bestowed upon me and those I love.
What She Said, May 2: Aja Monet
Here’s to the kids who live
who live and dare us
stand aside
may they embarrass us
show us who we are . . . .
Here’s to the kids who live in us
to the kids who live and demand
we act
in the doing
here and now
awestruck and unafraid.
–Aja Monet
What She Said, May 1: Joy Haro
I release you,
my beautiful and terrible fear.
I release you.
You were
my beloved and hated twin,
but now
II don’t know you as myself. . . .
I take myself back, fear.
You are not
my shadow any longer.
–Joy Haro
What She Said, April 30: Victoria Chang
In the end she just wanted the house
and a horse not much more what
if he didn’t own the house or worse
not even a horse how do we
separate the things from a man the man from
the things is the man still the same
without his reins it rains every fifteen
minutes it would be foolish to
marry a man without an umbrella did
Cinderella really love the prince or
just the prints on the curtains in the
ballroom . . . .
–Victoria Chang
What She Said, April 29: Dunya Mikhail
I still feel that poetry is not medicine–it’s an X-ray. It helps you see the wound and understand it.
–Dunya Mikhail
What She Said, April 28: Amanda Lovelace
i’m
pretty sure
you have
stardust
running
through
those
veins
-women are some kind of magic
–Amanda Lovelace
What She Said, April 27: Sandra Cisneros
I’ve put up with too much, too long. And now I’m just too intelligent, too powerful, too beautiful, too sure of who I am finally to deserve anything less. –Sandra Cisneros
What She Said, April 26: Rupi Kauer
how is it so easy for you to be kind to people he asked milk and honey dripped from my lips as I answered cause people have not been kind to me –Rupi Kaur
Vaccinated
I’d rather place my bets on the medical community being right than thinking a wild virus that’s killed over half a million Americans is perfectly survivable.
What She Said, March 28: Weike Wang
In spoken Chinese, everything is gender neutral. There is no she or he. The more I think about this now, the more I like this about the language. Man or woman? Does it matter? A person. –Weike Wang
The Gloria Sirens 