Category: Personal Essays
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Different Lenses
Show up. It costs less than five minutes. Or maybe you get a cold shoulder, or a fabulous meal. Whatever you get, it’s always worth it to show up.
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Zero Agenda
A possum showed up to our 2 o’clock. Nobody scheduled him. Nobody asked him to leave. And for one ridiculous moment, nobody cared about Q3. That was fine, too.
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Showing Up
Writing is a lonely business. Alissa knows. That’s why she pulled me toward the table. Because she knows me.
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Love Out Loud
There’s a phrase I keep hearing lately. It sounds generous. Open-handed. Every once in a while, it is.
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It Can’t Rain All The Time
The sky opened up. I had ten minutes and no cover. Alissa was on her way. Her phone wasn’t.
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Conspiracy Theory #396: The Roundabouts
I am NOT a conspiracy theorist. But Jackson has a new roundabout, and I can’t remember what used to be there. Help me out.
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One Page Turned Into a Week of Saying ‘I Like You’
1980s. New kid. A girlfriend with a binder full of hearts, a Mormon friend, a Coke machine full of Pepsi, and one simple request: write me a real note. I should have known better than to start.
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Conspiracy Theory #381: Cheetos Trucks
I’ve seen it more than once. More than twice. And now I have questions no one seems able to answer.
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Free. But Clueless.
We were free. Gone for hours at a time, no cell phone to track us — nothing more than a curfew and a number where we might be reached.
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Wrong! Do It Again!
R-rated movies in the 1980s. A scathing TV news interview. And a few GenX kids. Seriously. We knew what was up.
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Hidden Treasures
Two kids on the floor of a San Francisco aisle. A movie that made Harrison Ford a superstar. And twenty posters that were never supposed to exist.
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Saying Goodbye. Saying Yes.
A Sunday drive. One last goodbye before leaving for Michigan. Turns out a grandbaby has more pull than the Pacific.
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I Blame Byrne
It’s all Byrne’s fault. Him and Stephen Colbert. Alissa actually watched it with me. It was as bad as I remembered it was.
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Like Friends Do
A chance run-in at Stoneridge Mall. A blue VW Bug. A smoky apartment and a Nintendo nobody would turn off. Sometimes showing up for a friend is reason enough.
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Knowing It Will
“You blow it and watch it drift, hoping it doesn’t pop. But you watch anyway, knowing it will.” Some moments you hold on to.
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First Date
“I don’t appreciate what you said about my friends today.” I had no idea what she meant. That would turn into my first date. Read how it all happened.
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The Teeter-Totter
Most days we find our rhythm. But the other day? Both of us were down. At the same time. The key is balance.
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Who Told You?
Some voices don’t need your permission to stay. But they don’t have the right to either.
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Death of a Taste Bud — Listen to Me
California Pizza Kitchen. Barbeque chicken. Cauliflower crust. Way, way too hot! One bite. One bump on my tongue. And a whole essay about being unseen. New on Five Minute Observations.