Old With Jokes by Leanne Grabel
Something wonderful has happened since I turned 70. Really. I got in my skin. I finally got in. I mean, I’ve been trying to get in my skin for years. But there ...
Category: Featured
An Ephemeral Experience of Permanence by Amanda St Claire
The epoch of tiramisu in bed on a Saturday morning. Of sharing soap, of rituals, what it means to live a thousand lifetimes within a year, knowing your mother w...
Dementia/Make Me Cry/5 Minute Read/ACEs/Alzheimer's/childhood sexual abuse/Depression/Featured/Family/Girls & Women/Loss/Memoir/Mental Health/Rape Culture/Relationships/Society/trauma
My Aunt Who Changed Her Name by Cecilia Donohoe
To my friends, I tell the story as a joke. If Sarafina comes up in conversation, she — who bought me a beautiful pink tutu when I was nine and gave me beads and...
2 minute watch/Escape/Featured/Identity/Loss/Memoir/Mommy Dearest/Mothers and Daughters/PTSD/Society/trauma
Hypostasis by Amy Bailey
When Amy’s mother dies, there will be an autopsy. The report’s first paragraph will detail long black hairs protruding from her chin. It will be a commentary, a...
7 Minute Read/Featured/Girls & Women/Loss/men/nonfiction/Rape Culture/Relationships/#SAAM/Sexism/Society/Storytelling/Survival
Hon by Laurie Harriton
*Featured Art: A TEAR by Carolyn Schlam, Ink and Watercolor, 14″ x 11″, 2020 I am lying on the Murphy bed in Herb’s dark living room, having finall...
Ditch Days by Kase Johnstun
And then there were days when the ditch was full but no one to play with. My cousins weren’t around, and my brother didn’t want anything to do with me, so I put...
First and Last Easter by S. Severin
First Easter It was our first Easter together. I was in a good mood, springtime in Chicago can do that to a person. The Easter displays were up and I decided t...
Healing/COVID/7 Minute Read/Adversity/Black Memoirs Matter/Escape/Featured/Family/Grief/Identity/Inspirational/Justice/Literature/Loss/nonfiction/Race Matters/Society
How Can Black People Go Camping at a Time Like This? by Debra Stone
We bought the trailer after Trump became president, a safety net, in the probability of needing a means of escape. Maybe Canada then on to Cuba? At least it eas...
Passenger Trains and Other Forbidden Loves by Jonathan Odell
People are quick to ask me when I discovered I was gay, like one day I got a registered letter in the mail. Or maybe they are fishing for a steamy sex story exp...
5 Minute Read/Childhood/Featured/Family/Institutions/Man in The Mirror/Memory/morality/nonfiction/Race Matters/Society
What Love Looks Like in Public by Jacqueline St. Joan
The urge to move is nameless, both voluntary and involuntary. The trick is to get that far and then get out of the way. Follow it to the first words and then ...
Dementia/Make Me Cry/10 Minute Read/Aging/Alzheimer's/Featured/Family/Grief/Inspirational/Loss/Memoir/Memory/On Memory/Parenting
Vigil by Shirlee Jellum
*Featured Artwork by Tara Koger/Columbus Community Deathcare “…when the time comes to let it go…” —Mary Oliver I Outside the door I linger, close my eyes, breat...
5 Minute Read/Doctors/Featured/Inspirational/Institutions/Man in The Mirror/Medicine/Memoir/nonfiction/Society/Storytelling/trauma
Along Came Bobby by Jordan Midgley
Every now and again, Bobby will call me, or I’ll call him. We talk about politics, drama, scandal, funny stories, old friends, his son’s service in the Navy, my...
The Sweetness of His Breath by Kristen Lambertin
My son looked so small in the hospital bed. “Will this change my life? Will I still be able to play soccer?” he asked. “Yes and yes,” I said, “but not necess...
Make Me Cry/3 Minute Read/Adoption/Featured/Grief/Inspirational/Justice/Man in The Mirror/Memoir/morality/Mothers/Mothers and Daughters/nonfiction/Parenting/PTSD/Race Matters/Society
Atlantic Terminal 2015 by Tanya E. Friedman
The child whose hand I held, my daughter whose brown skin matched the boys and the police and not my whiteness: I lifted her, not to see the scene, but the oppo...
Trigger warning/3 Minute Read/Featured/Literature/Loss/Memoir/Mental Health/Mental Illness/morality/nonfiction/personal essay/Pushcart Prize Nominations/Science/Society/Suicide
Dead Weight by Claire O’Brien
I’ve been to thousands of death scenes. I knew what your family would say even before they found you. I know you’re the third suicide that this firefighter has ...
Your Greatest Fear by Sherri Wright
In the United States about six million people over 65 live with Alzheimer’s disease. You wonder how much your mother knew and if she suffered. Looking back, ...
Make Me Cry/Healing/5 Minute Read/ACEs/Being Body/Featured/Family/Food/Girls & Women/Health/Literature/Man in The Mirror/Mothers and Daughters/nonfiction/Society
The Body History by Jessica Marks
My body is a series of numbers. I weigh 204, I wear a size 16. My waist is eight inches smaller than my hips, my breasts are 38B. I should probably go up to a 4...
Children of a Deaf(er) God, Part 1 of 2 by Kevin Garrison
I read the Bible each morning partly because I want to know the scriptures; I read partly because I want my ears to be healed; I read partly because I want to b...
7 Minute Read/Childhood/Featured/Funny/Gender Non-conforming/Girls & Women/Identity/Inspirational/LGBTQ/Literature/Love/nonfiction/Sexism/Society
Hearts Are Public By Lola Kelly
“People can have crushes just on boys or just on girls???… Why? How does it work? What’s wrong with-” “There is NOTHING wrong with them! Don’t say that!” ...