My family celebrates Christmas in January. Mom's decision to wrench the holiday from its December calendar square and push it a month was genius for our family because it's very, very, very hard to get all nine adults and five kids together at Christmas proper, plus the post-Christmas sales make for economical shopping. We love…
It would appear that, as a little girl, I enjoyed the companionship of stuffed bunnies. My interest in bunnies apparently began early. And it continued. My niece shares an interest in stuffed bunnies. "Bunny" is her best sleep buddy. I always thought my best sleep buddies had been my blankets, "Pretty" and "Fuzzy,"…
My sisters and I always call my mother on November 2nd. Today, she asked me if I remembered the cakes we made for Daddy. "I gave you each a can of frosting and you decorated with lots and lots of sprinkles. Daddy always acted so surprised!" When I told her that no, unfortunately, I don't…
"Did you miss your father on your wedding day?" asked A. We stood on the back deck of another friend's new house, munching hot pizza. Two-year-olds in soft Halloween costumes (bear, dog, tutu) rode up and down the stairs in parents' arms, giving the illusion of a funicular. I watched the birthday boy, long free…
Everything we perceive, even for a fleeting moment, is committed—in tiny pieces across various parts of the brain—to memory. When a memory is called back up, it might be 100% accurate. Or it might not be. Pieces are jumbled like ornament hooks. A poem becomes entangled with the image of an old friend and catches…
