Red's Wrap
Happiness. It's relative.
Category: Marriage, Family, Dogs, and Cat
Wishing for Monsters Under the Bed
I wish I had been less worried. If you ask me how I wish my childhood had been different, that would be my answer. I wish I had been less worried. It’s not a good thing for a child to be worried. Every day.… Continue Reading “Wishing for Monsters Under the Bed”
Go Play Outside and Build a Beach House
Once I gave my three younger kids a bucket of big nails and a hammer and told them to go make a life raft from wood they could find on the beach. I watched from our porch. The gathering, the lining up, the arguing,… Continue Reading “Go Play Outside and Build a Beach House”
Annual Planting
It’s late at the Super 8. There’s dirt under my fingernails even though I wore gloves. I have one pink geranium I couldn’t make fit. The urn for their flowers that I bought new last year was damaged by the winter. My husband left… Continue Reading “Annual Planting”
Sibling Secrets
“It’s not fair that I have to pay after taking care of him all those years.” “Life’s not fair. Isn’t that what he used to say?” “He was looking at you when he said it.” “Pay the people or they’ll tell everyone.”
Q and A with a Seventies Single Mom
Q: So I’m fascinated by this topic. Just thinking about what it must have been like to have been a single mom in the seventies. Forty years ago. Another world. A: Yeah. It was a bitch being left alone on the prairie in my… Continue Reading “Q and A with a Seventies Single Mom”
Point the Way
I like trees with style. And they’re so rare. We found this one on a short walk on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan. Years ago, there was a path down the bluff, a road actually that the local police used to surprise midnight partiers,… Continue Reading “Point the Way”
Brimming
I have many thoughts about this picture. First, wearing a hat adds mystery to any ensemble. Second, much can be hidden and said under a brim. Third, all small children should have bangs. Fourth, this moment could be put in a locket. Fifth, everything… Continue Reading “Brimming”
That It was the Same Only Better
I thought God had circled the Earth twenty times until He saw me wringing my hands after another failed home pregnancy test and decided to bring me babies from somewhere else. That’s how far gone I was. I absolutely believed that I was purposely… Continue Reading “That It was the Same Only Better”
Stogie
Across the room My husband lights a cigar He asks first, a reflex Won’t the smoke bother me My answer always the same No, go ahead, I say He waves away the smoke Apologetic, grateful for my indulgence The smoke takes me… Continue Reading “Stogie”
I Get Toya Graham
Do I think Toya Graham is a hero? No. I think she’s a mom who went completely off her nut when she caught her son throwing rocks at the police in Baltimore. And I get that. I really do. She saw him in a… Continue Reading “I Get Toya Graham”
Snow Door | wisconsinacademy.org
Listen to Jan read her essay “Billy” presented on WUWM’s Lake Effect
Jan’s essay “At the Breakfast Bar” on WUWM Lake Effect
Jan’s essay “The Parish Hall,” on WUWM Lake Effect
“Fury Cannot Touch Me,” Modern Love, NYT, 9/29/11
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