No More Libby Jacksons

My kids and their cousins often visited their mutual grandparents (my in-laws) when they were children. When it was time to leave, my father-in-law would call them aside and hand them each a $20 bill. I told my children not to expect Grandpa’s generosity and to thank him when it […]

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The Boy Wonder

When my son was about three, he went through a Batman phase that lasted several months to a year. He had Batman pajamas and underwear. He had a toy Batmobile, which is still in our basement. He ran around the house singing, “Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na, Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na, Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na, Batman!” (Did I do that […]

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Siblings as Targets and as Friends

Both my mother and my father grew up in families consisting of two siblings—an older brother and younger sister. I’ve always wondered if that is part of why they were so compatible, although they each had an uneasy relationship with their sibling for much of their lives. I’ve written before […]

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Real Life Does Not Make Good Narrative

I’ve been reading Janet Burroway’s book, Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft. I started it a few months back, and every so often I dip into it again. I’m not reading it linearly. I started with the chapters on character, then moved to theme and setting, and last week […]

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Mystery of the Old Doll Solved

When I was cleaning out my parents’ house last spring, I found an old doll. Its body was corduroy, it was stuffed with something soft, but had a hard plastic face. I remembered the doll from my childhood, but I didn’t know where it came from. Was it mine? Or […]

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The Thanksgiving That Almost Wasn’t

Last Wednesday morning, I made pumpkin and pecan pies. Wednesday night, my husband made apple pie, and he cooked green beans Thursday morning. We were ready with our contributions to Thanksgiving dinner. Our two adult children had flown to Kansas City to be with us—our son on Monday and our […]

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Fighting Fires: Now and Then

Many of the forest fires raging in the West this summer are not far from places I know—outside of Twisp and Omak and Okanogan near Lake Chelan in Washington State; Clark Fork near Lake Pend d’Oreille in the Idaho Panhandle; and other fires in Oregon. I remember fires from lightning […]

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A Life-Long Friendship Now Forgotten

I’ve posted pictures of my mother as a child (see here and here) and others of her as a young woman before I knew her (see here and here). Some stories behind the pictures I know. And others I wish I knew. Mostly, I wish I’d known my mother better. […]

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