Think of this, perhaps, as a sketch of something I'm still working out: The door jamb between our kitchen and the laundry room is unpainted on one side, littered with pencil marks -- initials, dates, hash lines that predate our moving in. It was one of the things clear in my imagining of our future, … Continue reading Underpainting.
The focal point for the day's work was "Wilson," a hospital glove that my husband inflated like a balloon and decorated with a Sharpie marker so it looked like a happy face. The glove's name came from the movie Cast Away, which we'd watched over Labor Day weekend, nestled with the dogs on our green-striped … Continue reading Something laborious.
She arrived at the door with a big paper grocery sack, handed off the goods, and left promptly, knowing full well what life was like with a toddler and a new baby at home. In the grocery sack were three Ziploc bags: Wide noodles; sauce; chopped Romaine (freshly chopped from a real head of lettuce, … Continue reading Something sentimental.
This is a night I want to remember. It started like this: It was light and warm, the sun still out. We were all out walking our dogs, all the neighbors, and walking our legs, and getting some fresh air, tired of being inside, weighted down. Then walking led to sitting on a porch, just … Continue reading A night to remember.
Were your holidays magical? The stuff of Disney and Hallmark movies, only more so? Ah, good on you! I'm tickled. As for us? Well, My sister and her crew gave me the best Christmas present I could ever want and spent the holidays with us, here in our house, all of us together for the … Continue reading A few things: December 2019
A neighbor stoops to pet my dog (our dog, the littlest of our three), greeting him by name. It is a cool, but not chilly, late fall afternoon, children playing in their yards, lights beginning to turn on behind windows, streets laced with dog walkers out for a pre-dinner stroll. One of the children, a … Continue reading Many happy returns.
This part does not last long: You work nights, so you can pick up the children after school, drive in the carpool line and talk to the teachers. I take the children to school in the mornings, while you are asleep, and we listen to books. You work nights because of retirement benefits and orthodontic … Continue reading 8
We are too old now not to be honest in our retelling of some things, aren't we? And looking back, if we are honest, one of the reasons we stayed in Memphis was because we were waiting for my stepmother to die. Not wanting her to die, of course, but simply waiting as life unfolded, … Continue reading 11
