The Most Important Lesson—Freshman Year 1979

The Most Important Lesson—

Freshman Year 1979

Roommates

I’m going to tell you about my freshman roommate, Lily*.  Because when I was seventeen, Lily taught me an important life skill that I am still trying to master.

You Can’t Keep The House Your Daughter Was Born In

You Can’t Keep The House Your Daughter Was Born In

Remember that night, as my midwife Ghuru B, a tiny woman from Chicago, smiled at me? I was on all fours on the bed and mooing like a cow in distress. I knocked my tea mug over, the stain spreading down the wall, while my husband pressed the spot on my back to suppress the pain. And finally after twelve hours of labor, she was born.

Houston and New York and Budapest

Houston and New York and Budapest

 

I once had a friend named Jules Dunay, and Jules was gay,

and I was a little in love with Jules Dunay.

Paddling With William Faulkner Through the Debris of Life

Paddling With William Faulkner Through

the Debris of Life

I had the nightmare again. 

Looking Towards Hathersage

Looking Towards Hathersage

I pause in my daily walk along the edge of the English town I live in and gaze across a soon-to-be-developed meadow and on towards the hills of Derbyshire

The Meaning of Hair in My Life

For years, I did not think hairdos very important.  My mother was always after me: “A little brushing would help,” she’d say.

This is for Paul

On this street tonight we are all lying in our beds wishing everything were normal.  “How can this be?” we ask.  For we are missing one of the sturdiest among us.  Paul.