I was sitting in the third row on the groom's side between two brothers and their wives, alongside my mother and father, in front of a gazebo at the Ritz Carlton.  My youngest cousin repeated after the minister, "I promise… forsaking all others… in sickness and in health… 'til death do us part."  I flushed, … Continue reading Embroidered Prayers

More than a year and a half ago I did this for the first time: sat on my front porch with a glass of red wine and a laptop and wrote from the top of my head.  On the other end of my long-distance relationship then was a younger guy who wasn't ready for marriage.  … Continue reading When It’s Only Fun on the Outside

I wanted a blanket tonight, not because it is too cold to sit outside, but because it's comforting.  Temperatures fell in Hurricane Matthew's wake, and while I lost a few branches, its death toll sounds at over a thousand lives taken, euphemism cushioning the empathetic blow.  Sunday's presidential debate reenacted the harsh rains and unforgiving … Continue reading Climate Change and Character

There’s nothing legendary about me.  I'm thirty-three, divorced, and my brother is kind enough to share his kids with me.  I teach high school, work out, and tend a garden.  When I was in high school, I believed I was destined for greatness, that I would somehow change the world.  I’d get discovered and be … Continue reading A Story Worth Writing