Tenderness and Grit A close friend died in 1999. After her funeral, grief’s full weight incapacitated me. My boyfriend led me into our cramped apartment bathroom...
Finding the Fun Mom, a former physicist, had a hard day with her dementia. She opened Zoom two hours early, asking repeatedly when her prayer meeting...
Finding the Fun Mom, a former physicist, had a hard day with her dementia. She opened Zoom two hours early, asking repeatedly when her prayer meeting...
Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow One of the first things Jay told me was, “I love your hair.” It was 1995, and it was inky black from...
Ride-Share Roulette Another rider joins the Lyft pool. Now I might be late for my date. “Mustafa?” the new rider asks. “Yes. Melissa?” Wait a minute,...
Her Rainbow Baby Mom told me I was her rainbow baby long before she knew I was queer. I was the child after miscarriage, a rainbow,...
A Mother’s White Lies My mother lied to a grieving lady. She baked a loaf of bread and drove straight to the mourner’s house. At the...
A Message Outside My Window I was sitting at my kitchen table, mulling over the reality of my life after the death of my beloved husband,...
Strange Delight for a Stranger We matched on Tinder in April 2020. Both quarantined alone, 2,500 miles and 25 years apart. She texts, “Do you want...
No Match for a Mud Puddle We met at the employee Christmas party at a place where I didn’t work. Open bar. We traded lipstick colors...
