Stories
My Old Badge Walked Six Boxes Out, And Every One Had My Green Dot
The rubber tip of Stan Koehler's cane came down on my bad knee in the…
Category: Stories
Stories
My Sister Wore My Dress. I’d Sent the Groom $640 That Morning.
My little sister walked into our barn in MY wedding dress, her arm hooked through…
Stories
The Boy at My Twins’ Grave Eats His After-School Snack Facing Their Picture
"Mama, those two sit at MY TABLE." A boy said it on the gravel path…
Stories
My Pastor Kept a Sheet That Gave My Brother Eighty Acres of Church Land
The ballots had my brother's name printed FIRST, and the chair at the head of…
Stories
Ron’s Sister Came Back to My Porch With His Name Typed on a Form
My husband's sister cut a ditch through the $2,850 lawn I put in for him…
Stories
My Last Customer Never Picked Up His Nickels, And That Hatchback Didn’t Budge
He walked up to my counter at twenty to eleven with both fists shut. He…
Stories
My Husband Read Me Every Letter That Came to This House for Twelve Years
Twenty-three years blind, and when my husband lifted the patches off my eyes at our…
Stories
I Left The Boy Named On Those Doors Lying In The Dirt At Ramadi
"The county girl," he said to the OR board, not to me. His signature on…
Stories
My Uncle Kept The Same Page Nearly Five Years, With Dad’s Line Blank
When Dad divided things up, my brother got a two-bedroom condo in Madison with a…
Stories
He Sat Her in My Daughter’s Chair. Her Car Was Still in My Name.
Three hours after we buried my pregnant daughter, her husband walked his girlfriend into the…
Stories
From The Squad Car, My Ex Named The Man Who Pinned My Badge
Greg pinched my sleeve between two fingers in the training center lobby and told me…
Stories
Signed At Seven
The message reached me seven time zones from home, while I was checking pipe fittings…