This Thing Called Life
In Search of Roads Less Traveled
When we reconnected after more than a year without contact, I asked him what prompted him to reach out. “I was driving across [the] bridge, and I thought of you,” he said. Roads have a way of doing that—leading your…
A Whiff of Nostalgia, a Gust of Hope
In the pictures I once painted of my future family, the barber shop was on my husband’s list of responsibilities. Saturday mornings, with the smell of sausage and syrup still lingering in the kitchen, I would wipe our son’s sticky…
Perfect Conditions
I wanted 85 degrees and sunny, with clear blue skies. What I got was 70s, sun peeking out of gray clouds, and an occasional rain shower. Yet somewhere in that space between vision and reality where disappointment is known to…
There’s More
The other day as I was walking through my new favorite park, I stumbled upon something unexpected: more. I had only been to the park about a dozen times, but up until that moment, I was certain that I had…
Back Around
Last Sunday morning, I slowly opened my car door and gingerly placed one sky-high wedge sandal after another onto gravel. The walk from my car to the church was a rocky one, the flat surface of the wedge incompatible with…
The New Me, the Old Me, and the Distance in Between
For almost two years, I have been chasing an old version of myself. She went missing several years ago, so gradually that I could not trace my steps back to the exact moment and location where I lost her. Maybe…
Closed Mouths
Every once in a while, I cross paths with someone with a brand of audacity that I observe with an odd combination of disdain and admiration. Yesterday was one of such occasions. When I approached the checkout section at the…
