Dan and I live in what I call our little shoebox house. It is about 1200 square feet of living space nestled between two fields on the...

I am listening to words that seem wrong, just wrong. Doris has one of the most fascinating lives I’ve ever heard tell. She’s a...

One thousand dollars is a sum I do not take for granted. I am recently returned to work full time after our change in farm status. I am...

I am twelve-years-old, on a mission, being thwarted by the consistent delivery of the word, “No.” She is wrong to say no. I know she is...

The day is gray and rainy and I am nervous about finding the place I’m supposed to report for tree-planting duty. I volunteered to help...

My wardrobe is not exactly sexy. I need teacher clothes, farm clothes, jogging clothes, church clothes, and an occasional cute outfit...

I watch a group of women at my dinner table logging on to a genealogy app, then finding other women in the country club dining room and...

Three fourth grade girls and I sit at a little round table for forty minutes once a week and devote ourselves to writing. These young...

I look out the back passenger window while my friend Lori and her father return me home after a day of swimming. I watch my...

I notice an interesting trait in my family. We bear name problems. Take my mother’s, “Willie Jo.” She hates being called Willie and...

I beckon Dan through the crowded party to meet an adorable engaged couple I’m getting to know. After greetings and discussion of how...

Friends are over for toddler play time when the radiologist’s office calls. I need to go back in to redo images on my pregnancy...

My toddler longs to ride an elephant. It is a wonderful childish dream, but I don’t expect it will happen. When our young parent...

Dan comes home after meeting with the other partners of Cutts Brothers. It’s not an unheard-of thing, but they see each other at work...

I’m not in New Orleans for Mardi Gras. I grew up spending Dad’s leave time driving from duty station to visit kin in Alabama; I expect...

Slippery roads lay beneath us and icy sleet comes at us as I cling to the dash or the door alternately. My husband is a...

It’s Valentine’s Day, 1984, in Searcy, Arkansas. I run to my dorm to switch books for afternoon classes, and pause to admire three...

“I need to confess something, but I’m afraid you won’t love me anymore when I do.” After I say this, my husband rolls his eyes and gives...

From our Subic Bay terrace my worldview is shaped by greens and blues. A small yard extends from the carport beneath our elevated house....

I lift my hand hesitantly and wave goodbye, tearful sobs finally ending. The early morning is cold and barely light. I slide close to my...