The one thing I wanted most was just a few minutes rest. Just to place my head down, close my eyes, and have a few minutes to rejuvenate, to get my energy back. It wasn’t that I wasn’t having a good time; in fact, this trip had been magical. My close friend and teaching colleague, Rhonda, …
There is a certain safety in regimentation and rote memorization. I didn’t know either of those terms at the time but thinking back to my first-grade class in my Delaware school, this is the way I learned most often—as part of a large group with no real attention on myself. That was the part that was …
Up until about two weeks ago, there was one thing that I had not done during the pandemic, that I badly needed to do. That was to let my anger out in a truly physical and unapologetic way. Yes, I had expressed anger before. To like-minded friends and family, I had voiced my outrage at the …
When I knew her, her hair was dyed a deep auburn that formed wispy waves about her face and made her black eyes seem darker. She wore brown dresses that showed her solidarity with the earth and its ancient rumblings. She never wore blue, the color of the sky—for her greatest fear was to accidentally view the …
“I’m wondering if it’s going to be just like in the Bible,” Mrs. Steele exclaimed. “Forty days and forty nights!” Her voice was loud and shrill, as she handed Dad his change, and the way she kept talking made me think that she didn’t want us to leave. I understood. The nights were long and dark …