It’s quarter to one in the morning on the second day of a new year and I’m too restless to sleep. I’ve been staring at my computer for three hours, give or take, minus a ten minute attempt to fall asleep alongside Vinnie. The program… Read More
I used to the think space between years was just a long exhale, a breath. I solitary beat in a life that will have many, many beats. Nothing distinguishable from one inhale to the next. But then, there was you. Thirteen years ago, I spent… Read More
I dreamt of loss last night, I don’t even remember of what. I don’t even know that what was lost showed itself as anything more than a shadow. It was a faceless lingering heaviness, a hollowness, a hand that let go, an unceremonious goodbye. When… Read More
It’s 9:30 on a summer morning and I have wandered in and out of my kitchen no less than four times. I’m puttering, really. Lifting cereal bowls and dumping the residual milk down the drain. Brushing Cheerios dust from the counter top. Looking out the… Read More
I used to swim across the lake on summer afternoons or humid evenings as dinner was being grilled. It’s a narrow lake, not terribly deep and the most harmful creatures in it are probably the little snapping turtles or the sharp edges of the freshwater… Read More
We bought my wedding band at Zales, in the mall, another thing checked-off on the way to the alter. We were only kids. I had it soldered to my, equally inexpensive and simple, engagement ring, shortly after we were married, so that it would stop spinning… Read More
Dear Beginning of the School Year Melanie, You think you’re ready. You’ve prepped yourself by reading homeschool blogs, talking to homeschool moms, buying subscriptions to online education sites, printables sites, buying enough books and curriculum to serve an entire classroom of children, more than enough for… Read More
I stood in front of her, knelt to her level, eye to eye, for as much as she could look at me. Her eyes darted over my shoulder, down to the floor, back to mine, again and again. Her eyes fluttered, watered, welled up and… Read More
Turbo TV is on in the background. My kids are having friends over and are up late on a school-night, watching television. I hear a character announce himself, defiantly, I am the fastest on this planet! In a world of racing snails and aliens (seriously,… Read More
Dear Lila, Yesterday, you curled on the couch and covered your head with pillows while the rest of us began school. I did not yell. Yesterday, your ears turned deaf when I gently asked you to come to the table. Your weight shifted on the… Read More
The Frozen Moon 