“This author really pissed me off,” I told my husband the other day. I brandished a book called Soon: An Overdue History of Procrastination, by Andrew Santella. My anger surprised my husband. He enjoys a heated debate while I tend to shy away from black-and-white argument. But this book? I ranted about it for fifteen […]
alcoholism
When My Sister Moved In: Long-Term Healing and Adult Children of Alcoholics
I’m about to judge a new friend for being overly attached to her family of origin. She sees it in my eyes, knows it by the question I ask, and defends herself. We are scooping white rice onto forks, pushing chunks of curried goat over it, and sliding it into our mouths. I am wiping […]
Being Ministered To on a Mission Trip
I woke up on a cot in the gymnasium with butterflies in my stomach. I’d brought a sleeping bag with the intent of sleeping on the hard floor, but after suffering from an awful case of indigestion, I was offered one of the few available cots. I seemed to be feeling back to normal, except […]
A Perfect Memory
I have a handful of memories of my father. I mull them over from time to time, because I used to have more. My father died the summer before I turned eight. My mom and I were out for the day; I was playing at the shoreline of a small lake while she read a […]
When We Find Life in Leaving
Standing over the stove, you can tell she’s in her element. The woman can cook. She may not be able to recite the recipe exactly, and may have to tell you in three separate phone calls the revisions to the recipe, but cooking is her love language. That and waking up at 5 am to […]