After our closing, mail intended for the prior owners continued to arrive. At my wife’s suggestion, we hand printed “return to sender” and dropped the letters in the blue collection box near the Panera. The junk—the flyers, directories, advertisements—we tossed.… Continue Reading
Walking in, I wing my arms and strum the strings that line the walls. Dan’s racked his guitars by resonance, tinny to golden. Discordant yet beautiful, jangles the hum, like a gateway to limbo. I’ve suggested he tune them to… Continue Reading
Home is where the heart is. That’s the saying my mother liked, cross-stitched and hung in the hallway. Now I wonder—if I don’t have a home, am I heartless? I was on the move, deciding to sleep in a real… Continue Reading
I rented the same beach house as the one we vacationed at fourteen years ago. That was the last summer for the five of us, the one before the children began disengaging from Tyler and I. The one of our… Continue Reading
Tommaso balanced four glasses of beer, stretching his arthritic fingers to keep them from spilling. He placed one each in front of his old friends Sergio and Enrico and left one at an empty seat on the table.All three men… Continue Reading
Ellen called a few weeks ago from her hospital bed, demanding a eulogy. How does one say “no” to such a request from a neighbor and fellow parishioner? Perhaps the most honorable way to perform these duties is to describe… Continue Reading
I met the caveman back at a time when I used to go wandering a lot more than I can now. I was doing hikes up and down the east coast, with just a backpack and a map. I was… Continue Reading
Raymond Marino hustled into work every day for scenarios like this one. As he was taught by his father, Nunzio, who worked for 18 years at the original Barney’s of New York, Raymond understood he was not just a salesman,… Continue Reading
A baby bit Janey’s heart and then her heart turned black. Her heart had been a live, beating thing; it had led her first to Harry and then to the white waiting room with little wooden blocks painted in primary… Continue Reading
Late to work, scrambling school runs, an urgent dentist appointment — every red light seems to burn longer than the last. But now, approaching a destination I don’t want to reach, the streets glow green. I miss the turning twice,… Continue Reading