Red's Wrap
Happiness. It's relative.
Category: Writing
Going Back to the Place You Were Left
We took our sons back to the place where they were abandoned as babies. In their late teens, they had no memory of anything in Nicaragua much less the place where they had last seen their birth mothers. It seemed graceless and unfeeling to get… Continue Reading “Going Back to the Place You Were Left”
One True Thing
“All you have to do is write one true sentence.” Ernest Hemingway’s advice to writers is legendary. One true sentence, that’s all it takes to get going again. “Write the truest sentence you know.” I’ve been stuck for weeks in my writing. I feel… Continue Reading “One True Thing”
This Morning’s Question
Wrestling with a bunch of consternating business problems, I asked my husband this morning, “What would a rational person do in this situation?” It came out as a totally honest question. He looked at me, “Are you sure you want to rely on my… Continue Reading “This Morning’s Question”
My Day with Bob Evans
This incredibly flattering and beautifully composed photograph was taken this morning after breakfast at our beloved Bob Evans restaurant, this one just north of Lansing in DeWitt. We were driving south on US127 from Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant where, the night before,… Continue Reading “My Day with Bob Evans”
Going Back to Explain
On Monday night, I’m going to put on my skinny jeans from Target and my really great looking brown boots, wrap a paisley scarf around my neck and put on my brown velvet jacket and I’m going to walk into the Central Michigan University… Continue Reading “Going Back to Explain”
Dump the Debate: Let’s Have a Contest!
I’m fed up with the debates. The posturing and the pointing, the incessant smirks and endless CNN commentary. Tired of wondering why both presidential candidates are so thin and so sick to death of their words, I could spit. So I’m suggesting that instead… Continue Reading “Dump the Debate: Let’s Have a Contest!”
It Came Down to Shaving
We recognized each other by the hair on our legs. Noticeable stubble was just hygiene laziness. Fully grown out leg hair that lay in waves and maybe curls, that extended down the leg to an abrubt line at the ankle like a pair of… Continue Reading “It Came Down to Shaving”
My Square in the Domestic Violence Quilt
PART 1 Thirty years ago, I sat all night on the sofa in my upper flat, smoking Benson & Hedges, with my mother’s green and orange afghan wrapped around my shoulders, waiting for my addicted, unpredictable, and sometimes violent boyfriend to pull up in… Continue Reading “My Square in the Domestic Violence Quilt”
Poachers
When I started my blog, I had a list of topics. Poaching was the number one item. It irked me the most. But I never wrote about it. Why? Because the weird feeling an adoptive parent gets when another adult presumes an adoptive child… Continue Reading “Poachers”
Mothers of Sons, Hear Me Out
Mothers of sons, hear me out. All mothers of sons, please listen. I want to say what I have to say to all of you – the mothers of sons pulling straight A’s in college, the mothers of sons who are struggling, the mothers… Continue Reading “Mothers of Sons, Hear Me Out”
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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