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Catherine Matthews

Women's Fiction Author

Category: Grief

Battles of Courage and Love: Cindy’s Journey 

She skated into town in 10th grade. I always worried about the new kids. I had a lot of experience being the new kid.  I knew that it was infinitely harder when you landed in a small town where lifelong friendships were forged in bassinettes.  She didn’t strike me as a country girl either. She held… Read More Battles of Courage and Love: Cindy’s Journey 

July 6, 2019May 24, 2020 Catherine Matthews2 Comments

The Busyness of Avoiding

My father tore the carpet out of our house a few weeks before my sister’s wedding.  The carpet started out the color of sand on a southern beach.  After years of being trampled on by firewood toting teenagers, it had grown dingy and rough.  Once he got a thought in his head, it was like… Read More The Busyness of Avoiding

May 23, 2019May 23, 2019 Catherine Matthews7 Comments

A Girl’s Best Friend

Girl and boxer pups sleeping on a sofa

I remember when we picked him up. After months of looking, we found him at a breeder in Omak.  My husband has a knack for tracking down the best pups.  Dog-less for a year or more, we finally decided it was time for our daughter to have her own dog.  After much negotiations on breed,… Read More A Girl’s Best Friend

September 29, 2018January 20, 2019 Catherine Matthews22 Comments

Nothing Left Unsaid

Father and daughter on the beach

I thought this post would be easier to write.  I realize that no matter how carefully chosen, my words will likely be inadequate. It is ironic since I have entitled this “Nothing Left Unsaid”, and yet, surely, there will be something left unsaid. I went to a celebration of life this week for a truly… Read More Nothing Left Unsaid

June 28, 2018January 20, 2019 Catherine Matthews24 Comments

Do It For A Friend

Alaska wilderness

As I was driving home from work tonight, Corey Hart’s Never Surrender came on. You probably will only know this song if you were embroiled in teenage angst or young adult drama in the mid-1980s. It was the theme song for that.   I remember it because I recorded it on cassette tape and sent it… Read More Do It For A Friend

February 16, 2018January 4, 2019 Catherine Matthews19 Comments

Don’t Miss the Joy in Grief

Eagle soaring over the Skagit River

I was sitting at Finaghty’s Irish Pub the night before we were to celebrate the life of my father. I was with my husband and daughter and surrounded by my sisters, most of their families and my stepmom. Family had been arriving from out of town and were still trickling in.  We are not a… Read More Don’t Miss the Joy in Grief

January 20, 2018January 4, 2019 Catherine Matthews10 Comments

Looking at Life Through the Keyhole

Grandpa having tea party

Over the course of this week, as we prepare to celebrate my dad’s life, we have all been poring over pictures.  And I remember so much of what I forgot.  And I see things I didn’t know but they are so obvious to me now.  We know our family members because we have these long… Read More Looking at Life Through the Keyhole

January 11, 2018January 4, 2019 Catherine Matthews15 Comments

Lean In

Dad with girls 1967

I was sitting on a plastic couch in a hospital waiting room sobbing in that heart wrenching way you do when you are racked with grief. I had just finished making those difficult phone calls to friends and family, when one of my sisters sat down beside me. She put her arm around me as… Read More Lean In

January 6, 2018December 7, 2019 Catherine Matthews10 Comments

It’s the Little Things

Dad with daughter 1960s

I think at the end of a life, it is the little things you remember most. The seemingly inconsequential moments become indelibly written on our minds and hearts.  Oh sure, every relationship has big moments.  There are marriages and births, graduations and new homes.  And every relationship has good times and challenging ones – even… Read More It’s the Little Things

January 4, 2018January 4, 2019 Catherine Matthews18 Comments

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Copyright

© Catherine Matthews and Catherine Matthews Images, 2017-2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Catherine Matthews and catherinematthewsimages.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.


Catherine Matthews is an educator and author living north of Seattle with her husband and two boxers, Delta the Destroyer and Buttercup the Bored. She is currently querying her debut novel, Becoming Benny. Her essay, Deeper Than Social Connections, is featured in the eBook and audiobook editions of the anthology Alone Together: Love, Grief, and Comfort in the Time of COVID-19 (Jennifer Haupt, Ed.), winner of the 2021 Washington State Book Award for general nonfiction.

After a lifetime of academic writing, Catherine discovered her passion for creative writing when she dove into writing her blog, Life Through My Lens. In contrast to her doctoral dissertation, which should not be read while operating heavy machinery, her stories will make you laugh and cry as she recollects the follies of her youth, and her adventures in parenting, teaching, and leading schools.

A learner at heart, she is an active member of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association and regularly hones her craft through writing courses at Hugo House. She is up before dawn to start her day with her two favorite things: riding her bike and working on her latest novel.

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There are some iconic things about every location. I am a PNW woman through and through. I'm thrilled when the mountain is out. I love hopping the Sound on a ferry. While I love the feel of sand in my toes, there is something about a pebbled beach—a kaleidoscope of colors and textures. Flat ones and fat ones, all worn smooth by a trillion passing tides. It reminds me that, while it is wonderful to travel the world, there is still beauty to explore at home. There's always a little PNW in my work.
I love this reminder that, too often, we worry about what others think about us and how limiting that feels. This is a reminder that our own self-beliefs are limiting as well. So, what’s holding you back from your dreams? What would you do if you let go of all the ‘I am too…’ and ‘I’m not enough’ and embraced ‘I can’ and ‘I am’.

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