It changed because of a cardboard box. Plain. Taped shut. My name written in careful cursive. It was from my mother. Laurie. The woman who had disappeared when I was nine months old. The woman I knew more as an idea than a person. A shadow that hovered in family stories and awkward silences. To…
I was thirty, hooked up to IV lines, and halfway through chemotherapy. Chemo is like having the life peeled off of you, layer by layer. It isn’t just about fighting cancer. It’s about losing little pieces of who you thought you were. My hair fell out in clumps in the shower. Food turned into a…
Read More “Two years ago, it felt like my life had been burned down to the foundation.” »
She spent years reminding me I wasn’t good enough for her son. When she died, I assumed I’d barely be mentioned in her will. Instead, she left me everything — with one condition that changed my life. They say funerals bring out people’s true selves. In my case, it exposed every ugly corner at once….
On Thanksgiving morning, my husband told me to relax because he’d handle dinner. By that evening, our families were raving about his perfect meal. What they didn’t know was that I’d seen exactly how that “perfect” dinner was made — and who he’d invited into our home while I was gone. He thought he was…
I woke up one morning to find my wreck of a kitchen completely spotless. A few days later, there were groceries in my fridge that I definitely hadn’t bought. I live alone with my kids. No one else has a key. For a while, I honestly thought I was losing it… until I hid behind…
When my stepsister asked me to make six custom bridesmaid dresses, I agreed, thinking maybe it would finally help us bond. I pulled $400 out of the money we’d been saving for our baby to buy the fabric and materials. When I delivered the dresses, she called it my “gift” and laughed when I reminded…
The textbook slipped out of Laya’s arms and landed in a muddy puddle, pages soaking up dirty water and streaks of blood. She didn’t stop to pick it up. She was busy counting breaths and heartbeats. By the time the ambulance pulled up, she had the bleeding under control, the woman’s airway clear, her vitals…
Last week, I stepped into my backyard looking for a little peace and quiet—and instead, something strange caught my eye. An orange extension cord stretched across the grass like a bright line, running from my neighbor’s garage straight into the outlet on the back of my house. I stopped and stared at it for a…
Read More “What I Found Plugged Into My House and What It Taught Me” »
The wind that night felt personal, like it was trying to carve its way right through me. December 23rd, Lakeshore City. Apartment windows glowed red and green, streets crowded with people dragging shopping bags and last-minute optimism behind them. None of that had anything to do with me. I was behind my worn-out apartment building,…