Red's Wrap
Happiness. It's relative.
Tag: 99 New
Equal Wipes
Sometimes I forget how mad I used to get about the lack of free and available menstrual supplies in public places. Some important institutions have changed: Milwaukee County, City of Milwaukee, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and numerous small establishments. But the big public facility I… Continue Reading “Equal Wipes”
99 New: Bama Hound
Our new dog is from Alabama. For some reason, things didn’t work out down South and he was shipped up here to Milwaukee. With mange. It doesn’t reflect well on that part of the country, sending their mangy critters up to us Northerners to… Continue Reading “99 New: Bama Hound”
99 New: Toothy
I told the dentist that the gold crown in his hand which he was about to re-cement on my #15 had been put in forty years ago by a dentist who, because I had no dental insurance at the time, let me pay off… Continue Reading “99 New: Toothy”
99 New: Endings
It was my custom to make peanut brittle on Christmas Eve, early so it was done but slightly warm at dinnertime and we could wrap it in boxes for my daughter to give to her grandparents where she spent Christmas Eve while I stayed… Continue Reading “99 New: Endings”
99 New: A Stroke Short
I was in the kitchen finishing the dishes, my daughter was washing, I was drying, and we were both listening to the conversation in the living room. My sister had flown in late from the west coast for my mother’s burial the next day,… Continue Reading “99 New: A Stroke Short”
99 New: Lipstick Touchers
“If I was a big tall guy, would I be a looming, space-taking, oblivious asshole or would I be nice?” I asked the question of no one in particular but my husband was within earshot. “Oh, you’d be nice.” I had just crumpled my… Continue Reading “99 New: Lipstick Touchers”
99 New: Beloved Friends
As I listened to the priest describe how former Secretary of State James Baker had rubbed President George H.W. Bush’s feet as he neared death, I wondered to myself, do I have someone who would do this for me? A wife would do this… Continue Reading “99 New: Beloved Friends”
99 New: The Coat
“Whatever you do, don’t start buying them things.” It was the second day of our training, a dozen earnest women determined to rescue children from the foster care system. The instructor was stern. “Your job is to build a trusting relationship, not be Santa… Continue Reading “99 New: The Coat”
99 New: Soup Dog
The dog I met today, a big beautiful brown and black German Shepherd who followed me closely and watched my every move but held his head still for me to pet, his name in Lakota is Soup Dog. There is lore attached to that… Continue Reading “99 New: Soup Dog”
99 New: The Patchwork of Women
I have been spending a lot of time lately in the company of women. We are smart and experienced and all about changing something that is bad into something good. We have a million ideas, reinforce each other, tell each other the truth, and… Continue Reading “99 New: The Patchwork of Women”
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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