Pauline lost the last drop of her eyesight in August. Glaucoma had been eating it up for years while she diligently fed her eyes Cambigan and Roklatan, medicine to stabilize her pressure and prolong the inevitable blindness. “Well, Ma, it’s time … [Read more...]

Sherry is a queer girl. Not queer in the way the word is used today - reflecting one’s sexual preference. She isn’t queer in the 1960’s schoolyard description of the unpopular kid. Sherry is queer because she is odd. Unconventional. Not like the … [Read more...]

Sweetie was at the end of her rope. Her nerves were frayed; she was depressed and despondent. There was no end in sight. She dropped to her knees. Her watery eyes were now dripping endless tears. "Please, God, help me. I can't go on. My burdens … [Read more...]

My Mami was never my hero. And I wasn’t hers either. As long as I can remember, we had a relationship where we merely tolerated each other. January 1, 2020 A new year. I’m thirty years old, and I still live in my childhood bedroom, under Mami’s … [Read more...]

I never saw an angel before, and I wasn’t certain they even existed outside of the Bible, in a greeting card, or as a gift store tchotchke. And then, one day, I met Oswald. I prepare the dead for burial. It’s a blessing straight out of the Good … [Read more...]

When I met him, the first thing I noticed was a small horseshoe-shaped scar on his left cheek. How long is not long enough to ask a new friend, “how’d you get it?” I decided to wait. Louis and I crossed paths working on a Habitat for … [Read more...]

Holy Mother! Is she an apparition, or is she real? My eyes are wide open. I do the pinch trick, and I feel a slight twinge of pain, but my heart insists I must be dreaming. The person walking the hall towards me is surely God's finest work. Her … [Read more...]

She was traveling in Kenya and met a refugee from Zimbabwe. He said he had not eaten anything in over three days and he was devastatingly skinny. His skin was sallow, his hair sparse, but his smile was wide and welcoming. She was in the process of … [Read more...]

Jasper and me were buddies. I rescued the incorrigible mutt from the shelter almost eight years ago. I was feeling lonely the day I met Jasper. It was moving day for my "then-girlfriend" of two chaotic years. I figured it was best to be out of my … [Read more...]

Patti: It's an unusual arrangement, I'll grant you that, but it's worked for us all these years. Meghan, Hilary, and I met at the University of Illinois during our freshman year of college while living at the 6th street dorms in 1998. We started as … [Read more...]