Red's Wrap
Happiness. It's relative.
Category: Writing
One Beautiful Day
I took out the thin folded $20 that I keep in the little slide drawer on the back of my phone and handed it to the bartender who’d just done an especially generous pour of Chardonnay for me. He held the twenty in his… Continue Reading “One Beautiful Day”
The Tiny Shrinking Cozy World of Deafness
I love my dogs more now that I’m going deaf. They’re not interested in having conversations. They just like to hang out. Wordlessly. It is a relief, an unburdening that is hard to explain to a person with fully functional hearing. It is exhausting… Continue Reading “The Tiny Shrinking Cozy World of Deafness”
All the Stories Aren’t Real
In the stories I write, there is almost always peril, someone is in trouble, or there is grief and struggle of other sorts. There is a woman, plucky and usually older, full of alternating self-doubt and bravado. There are men in my stories, but… Continue Reading “All the Stories Aren’t Real”
An Eagle on the 4th of July
I sat at the end of a dock today, waiting for the bald eagle that we had been watching off and on for the past hour to emerge from his perch and take flight again. Earlier, he’d flown over the lake in front of… Continue Reading “An Eagle on the 4th of July”
Where Should We Bury the Cat? A Story of Devotion and Grief
“It’s premature to talk about where to bury the cat.” Artie shook out the Sunday paper and then refolded it so the first page of the obituaries would be on top. He did this every week, sort through the paper to find the death… Continue Reading “Where Should We Bury the Cat? A Story of Devotion and Grief”
The End of Lament
I crossed over today. There’s no other way to say it. Like a dying person who sees the bright light, I’ve stopped the struggle, ended the resistance, faced the truth and found that I am fine with it. All at once and for no… Continue Reading “The End of Lament”
Picture Day
I am full of longing, full of envy for the life I had, missing my red hair, and the ten thousand days spent at the beach with babies who were heavy with their tiredness and salty hair, I miss the feel of them, their… Continue Reading “Picture Day”
I See and I Write
Boy’s blue umbrella Unfurled, sprinkler’s hard rain foiled Called in for dinner ___________________ Photo by nameless 3791 on Unsplash
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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