I visited my dad in August. We were sitting around a table with friends when I shared a memory of my childhood. This memory was of a key moment in my childhood and I'd shared it with many people over the years, but I'd never related it in front of my dad before. I don't …
In a few days, I'll celebrate another birthday. This birthday will make me older than my mother (pictured) was when she died. She died when I was 21, and I remember one night (though it was probably actually many nights) failing to sleep and thinking about the future without my mom. In my dorm room, …
Nothing scary is happening. Not yet, anyway. Oh, scary things lurk nearby, certainly. Ebola has come to my state. War wages in far too many places to list. Terrorists plot somewhere. Something you don't expect waits right around the corner. But I'm sitting on my patio, glimpsing fireflies and listening to the whir of the …
I don't like being asked for advice. I don't want to be asked which job you should take or what you should do about a relationship. I have an opinion (I'm full of opinions!), but I don't need more responsibility. What happens if you follow my advice and everything goes wrong? Blame is what happens. …
Fall gives me energy. Maybe it's all those years starting school in the fall, going to the store to buy new notebooks and folders that made me feel like everything was beginning all over again. My dad wasn't one to take me shopping much. He was a single dad and so shopping for my shoes, …
Continue reading The End Summer and the Beginning of New Things
The summer season here in the northern hemisphere is winding down. Are you a summer sort of person? I'm not really. I prefer fall, the crisp change in the air (although still a ways off yet in Texas) and the fun of Halloween. How far away from your hometown do you live? Have you left …
Back in the late 70's my mother made a stop-animation film for a college class. I remember looking at the set she'd built on a table in her apartment and her warning me that if I touched it, she'd kill me. The project took a very long time. A tiny bit of film, she'd move …
The news reached me about the passing of a friend. She was 83, and though she died in October, I only heard about it yesterday. We'd fallen out of touch, and I wish I'd made a better effort to stay connected. Don't we all end up wishing that one way or another? Last night, I …
My hair is growing back. It's a little more than two inches in length. Everyone says nice things about it, of course. I hate it. I'm happy it is growing back, but I can't wait for it to be longer. When does our hair become important to us? My son was almost two before we …
I attended Catholic school for three years. Honestly, I liked it. I liked most of the nuns (not all to be sure), and I ran around the playground with the boys. I fought back if anyone bothered me. I made good grades. In 2nd grade, a boy kept poking me with a pen. I told …
Marta Pelrine-Bacon 