Red's Wrap
Happiness. It's relative.
Tag: 100 essays
Garden of Defeat
I love the hopefulness of gardening but despise the tending. In a life full of half-hearted attempts to do things that other people do that seem to make them happy, gardening is the worst. It’s the exhilaration and the incredible crash that damage me… Continue Reading “Garden of Defeat”
Slice
This is the world according to a child. A piano is where all of the stuffed animals need to line up and stay put until the weekend is over and someone else puts them back in the box. They look happy there and, oddly,… Continue Reading “Slice”
Today at the Beach
Today at the beach, I saw something that made me glad and grateful and pretty right with the world. A young woman, her husband, their little boy, who was maybe three or four years old, and their little white dog on a leash were… Continue Reading “Today at the Beach”
Who Owns Baby Veronica?
A South Carolina couple was declared the winner in a long court battle this week and the prize was a human being. So the human being in this case, her name is Veronica and she’s three, will have to pack her bag, give her… Continue Reading “Who Owns Baby Veronica?”
The Loveliness of a Man’s Things
A beautifully-dressed man will have just a few things. He’ll have a good watch. Maybe if he is like my husband, he’ll have two watches. One will be the gold watch that belonged to his grandfather who died fifty years ago. He must know… Continue Reading “The Loveliness of a Man’s Things”
Okay?
The orphanage director took her hand and looked straight into her very blue eyes. “We think you should take him, not her. He needs you more. That’s what truly matters. Don’t you agree?” She was incredulous, silently hysterical. She’d come all this way for… Continue Reading “Okay?”
Tic
Every day, twice a day, the woman walked north on my street in front of my house. From my second floor office, I could see her on the sidewalk, taking big strides and swinging two plastic bags from the grocery store. She had an… Continue Reading “Tic”
Wrestlemania
What are the chances that the high school wrestling coach would be a Latino guy who was adopted and raised by Anglo parents? “I pretty much figured he was adopted when his name didn’t match his face,” Coach Tony said when he introduced himself… Continue Reading “Wrestlemania”
Glimmer
When our kids were little, we would come home from work, change into bathing suits, grab two longneck Millers, a slew of juice boxes, and a bag of chips and head down to Lake Michigan for ‘cocktail hour.’ We made sure to go after… Continue Reading “Glimmer”
Ten Stops
Today was a record for us – my husband and me and our little sidekick, our 7-year old granddaughter. We got in the car at noon, came home at seven and in between, made ten stops. We counted them over and over just to… Continue Reading “Ten Stops”
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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