Eight Stories in Eight Days: Day Eight – Wedding Reception
This is the last story in my series of eight, and it has been the hardest one to write. I was originally going to entitle this post "Wedding Day," but as my husband so helpfully pointed out, our actual wedding was several months prior to our reception, a civil...
read more
Eight Stories in Eight Days: Day Seven – I, Benevolent Art Dictator
This is the tale of my rise in childhood to become the most powerful art dictator of Hamilton, Virginia, population 800. Well, no, it's not quite like that. One of my fondest childhood memories was setting up art projects for my younger siblings. I used to create "art...
read more
Eight Stories in Eight Days: Day Six – My Grandparents
I couldn't write this series of eight stories without telling you about my grandparents. My grandfather was born in 1920, and my grandmother in 1925, so when the U.S. joined World War II in 1941, they were both young adults. Grandpa was hired right out of college as...
read more
Eight Stories in Eight Days: Day Five – The Torpedo Factory
Today's story is about a day I don't remember very well. I don't remember how old I was; I don't remember the weather, or what I ate that day. I'm not even 100% sure who was with me. So why write about such a day that's so foggy in my memory? Despite the lack of...
read more
Eight Stories in Eight Days: Day Four – My First Job
For Election Day, I've decided to tell the tale of my first job - as a telemarketer at the Republican National Committee in Washington, D.C. And yes, it's as bad as you're probably imagining. Before I start my story, I'm going to tell you that I am neither a...
read more
Eight Stories in Eight Days: Day Three – A Sick Day for Two
Simple stories tend to be my favorites, and that's what I have for you today. This is the story of a sick day I had as a kid. One day in seventh grade I had a fever, so my dad had me stay home from school. At 13, I was old enough to take care of myself. I was too sick...
read more
Eight Stories in Eight Days: Day Two – Birthday on a Volcano
I promised that my second story would be cheerier than my first, so I'm going to tell you about one of the best days I've ever had. It was that time I got to spend my birthday on a volcano. I went to college on one of the most active volcanoes on the planet. Yes, this...
read more
Eight Stories in Eight Days: Day One – A Sad Pumpkin Tale
Does this happen to other people? Most days I wake up with a phrase in my head. Often it's complete and utter nonsense gibberish like, "Walking fish rarely fly." (Yeah, no idea what that means...) But a few days ago, I woke up with the phrase, "Eight stories in eight...
read more