This photo of my mother and me was found in my father’s wallet after he died at the age of thirty-three from lung cancer. I must be around two years old in the photo and my mother, twenty-one. At first, I regretted its wrinkles and creases and then admired them for what they revealed—the wear…
Have you ever lost a twenty-dollar bill and wondered where it ended up? A few months ago, I lost a $20. A crisp, green Benjamin – gone. I had found it only hours before in a pocket of a coat I hadn’t worn since I was commuting on a train – pre-COVID! Found money! So,…
Is it possible to be haunted by a word? If so, my word is “javelin.” Could I have the definition, please? A light spear, usually thrown by hand. J-A-V Could you use it in a sentence, please? She grabbed the javelin and threw it across the field. I stood on that stage, a lonely seventh-grader with one…
Revision is a messy business. Then again, so is moving a house. This is our family cottage undergoing a significant revision. In 2005, we moved the cottage to a new location after twenty-three years in this location on Whalehead Beach, NC. The area around the cottage had become cluttered with houses more akin to mini-hotels,…
What does paradise look like? This is the view from Kula Lodge in upcountry Maui. It hugs the Haleakala Crater at an elevation of 3200 feet. It was built in 1948 as a private home, which hosted parties for mid-century celebrities such as Frank Sinatra, Spencer Tracy, and Katherine Hepburn. But for a modern audience,…
This is my grandfather in WWII. It’s not his plane, of course. He was fighting for America. But I’ve always been intrigued by this photo, haunted by it. What was the backstory? Did he capture or kill the pilot of this plane? Did he just stumble upon the plane while on patrol and pause for…
