The Hook by the Back Door My father was supposed to walk me down the aisle. He spent an entire year rehearsing for it, which was something to see from […]
The Name on the Watch Part One: The Dream My husband, Aaron, and I have been together for eight years, and from the very beginning we dreamed of having a […]
Nine Days My Aunt Ione called me on a Tuesday afternoon in January, the day after the blizzard finally blew itself out. I was in the bus garage at the […]
Chapter One: Six Inches The rain came through on a Thursday night in the middle of May, the kind of storm the Flint Hills get maybe once in ten years. […]
Tamara stood in her kitchen doorway with Jodie’s cubby bag already zipped. It was 6:40 on a Monday morning. I still had my scrubs bag on my shoulder, the one […]
My father leaned toward the iron gate as Evelyn Mercer turned the final page in the folder. The anger had gone out of his face. For the first time since […]
“Daniel, could you grab that sock for me?” It had fallen behind the dryer, one of his gray work socks, lying in the dust just out of reach. I was […]
“We’re all here waiting for you to make breakfast. Hurry up!” I read the text message standing in the cereal aisle of the grocery store, holding a box of oatmeal […]
My father ordered me to leave Boston before Thanksgiving. Not asked. Ordered. “You’re the embarrassment, not family,” he told me. “If you show up, Vivian could lose Derek’s defense deal.” […]
Room for Everyone Part One: The Red Line I’ve been riding the Red Line in Chicago for twenty-six years, and I like to think I’ve seen everything a train car […]