Memoir

Two days out of surgery for removal of an infected lymph node, I had a choice to make: Go to work somewhere, tomorrow, at a …

At an age so young I may not have known what “virgin” meant, I used to sing the “Virgin of the Sun God” right along …

I was born two months premature in 1943, sixteen years before neonatal intensive care in Florida. In telling the story of my birth, my mother …

In 1952 when I was 9 years old, my father was stationed at an Air Force base in Atlanta, Georgia. Soon after we moved into …

“He’s very old, you know, and he’s been sick for a long time.” David nodded. “Older than 10, like me. Does it hurt?” “I don’t …

Last week, I saw a woman begging on a street corner in the rain. I held a couple of ones out of the car window …

The dirt puffs up in beige clouds around my feet as I trudge along the weedy road ruts bordering the fields. The heat pounds on …

I once read a book about the annexation of Earth for use by an alien race that wanted majestic purple mountains and fruited plains for …

At a table at a beach-front open-air restaurant in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, my date and I are approached by a Chihuahua who is even tinier …

I read recently that each year in the United States, four million tons of paper go from logs to landfills just so we all can …

A career is something you decide on, plan for, maybe go to school for, engage in with purpose, perhaps even use to identify yourself. Meanwhile, …

Noise-loud-scream-female-near-Rosa! I launch away from the kitchen sink, skid across the linoleum, tear through the bedroom, and round the corner to the bathroom. Rosa, who …

Shayna was standing as still as a statue, small fists clenched, glaring up at Abraham Lincoln in the park. After almost a minute, she took …

It’s Day Three of my life as the mother of Vivian, and I’m frazzled. Acquiring an 8-year-old ready-made might upset anyone’s equilibrium, but it isn’t …

Loretta Young swirls on camera, glittery and with the tiniest waist. Five minutes later, she is diaphanous and dangerous in very little light, gliding down …

The knock came long after the family had gone to bed. Dr. Waller answered the door nonetheless—in those days, doctors were on call 24 hours …