It’s been a few years since we took our annual family summer vacation. By the time August 19th rolled around, our getaway was long overdue. We all felt it. My husband started the official countdown one week before. We both needed a break from work and just day-to-day activities.
Read MoreI spotted Kay staring at us from the corner of my eye after Uncle Louie’s toast. Her eyes lingered on Jim for a moment before she looked away, dropping her eyes to her plate. I refrained myself from rolling my eyes at her, so I smirked and sipped on my champagne instead. She picked at her food, not the normal thing to do for a girl who always likes to eat.
Read MoreThe man with the glass eye stared at me from the other side of the room.
“If you have any reservations about moving forward, I suggest you leave now. It’s not going to get any prettier from here,” he warned me in a flat, deadpan voice.
Read MoreIt was strange to sit up in bed and smell the coffee coming from the kitchen and realize I wasn’t the first person up. I liked the idea of a hot cup of coffee waiting for me downstairs. But for so long it had been my kitchen and my kitchen alone...
Read MoreAt some point in life, most of us have come across a quote, read an article or engaged in conversations about letting go of the past. Stop dwelling on what happened yesterday. Don’t think about what’s behind you. Live in the present. Look toward the future.
Read MoreNo one wants to be known as basic nowadays. It’s not flattering, cute and it’s definitely not considered a compliment. If you were trying to get to know someone and a mutual friend pulled you aside and said, “He/She is soooo basic.” That person would lose some cool points, and you’d probably keep it moving. Unless basic is your thing (and that’s cool too...no judgment here).
Read MoreI closed my eyes.The sound of people clinking glasses together was beautiful, almost like wind chimes. Why, then, did I feel so unbearably sad? When I opened my eyes and looked around the table I saw...
Read MoreI came outside on my lunch break on a muggy, hot afternoon ready to head to the forest preserve, but my plans to read and write for an hour were derailed as soon as I took a look at my car. My rear tire was completely out of air. Flat. Not even drivable to the nearest gas station, which was less than two minutes away.
Read MoreIt took him exactly 72 hours to send her the first text. I MISS YOU. That was it. Three words. Nothing original. No apology. Not even “I Love You.”She spent the last three nights tossing, turning and waiting for the ache in her stomach to disappear. But it never did. She missed him too much.
Read MoreThe white brick house at the end of the block looked exactly the way he remembered it from his last visit over two years ago. He pulled into a parking space behind a mini-van a few houses down and turned off his car, attempting togo unnoticed. He knew exactly where to find her. The house on Park Ave had become her sanctuary after her grandmother passed away.
Read MoreThe way that he felt about her. She consumed his thoughts. He couldn’t allow himself to think of anything else. He was determined to be the man she needed him to be. No more lies. No more secrets.
Read MoreI never expected for my life to change last summer. Last year on the fourth of July, my husband and I packed our bags, hopped on the first morning flight available and rushed down to North Carolina to be with my mother. Although the doctors sent her home on hospice just a couple days before our arrival, we went down there with every intention to pray, stand in faith as a family and watch God work a miracle.
Read MoreWHAT DO YOU REFUSE TO DO LIKE SOMEONE ELSE?
If you’ve ever listened to any of Billie Holiday’s music (All of Me, Lady sings the Blues, Strange Fruit), you’ll notice that her voice is unique. Distinctive. Whenever a song of hers comes on the radio, I know it’s Lady Day right away. I don’t have to ask “wait, who sings this song” or figure out the artist behind the voice.
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