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The Boundary Lines of My Broken Body
This essay originally appeared on Calla Press Literary Journal. Somewhere between rage-cleaning the kitchen and a ten-minute tidy, I decide it’s time. I reach into the bin and grab the avocado rattle—the one my first son shook around as he giggled when he was 4 months old. I place it in the donation pile. A […]
Lessons from My Garden
The leaves are starting to take a turn toward their fall colors here in Ohio, but I’m still gathering zinnias in my garden. The tree in my neighbor’s backyard is dropping its leaves into mine while I water my bell peppers and pick red tomatoes. I cut off a zucchini from its vine, take it […]
Gifts Forged in Grief
When plunking piano keys and singing at the top of my lungs turned to boredom, I asked to go outside. “Sure, baby. By the way, there’s watermelon in the fridge and Whitehouse Cherry Ice Cream in the freezer,” my Mamaw said in her Kentucky-born accent. I dashed out the garage door, my pastel dress and […]
I Didn’t Choose the Writing Life
I know of a sacred place—sacred to me anyway. Walk alongside the rose bushes by my Mamaw’s dusty blue house, pass by the strawberry garden and the cherry tree. Keep going and you’ll see the pine tree my brother planted as a little boy in the middle of the blues and yellows and pinks of […]
Will I Still Sing as Loud?
After lying in a dentist chair for three hours, I finally walked to the front desk to check out. What was done was done—no turning back now. The lady asked a question, and when I heard myself answer—immediate tears. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. At thirty years old, I sobbed in my […]