Red's Wrap
Happiness. It's relative.
Tag: siblings
Beautiful Boy
I read the news of my nephew’s death on Facebook. I knew it was coming but I didn’t in the way that anyone older finds it so hard to believe that a younger person would die first. We think dying will be linear and… Continue Reading “Beautiful Boy”
Grief Note
In the pantheon of weird life experiences comes this: I just mailed a one sentence note to my sister telling her our brother died late in January. The gravity of the message required that I drive the note to the downtown post office to… Continue Reading “Grief Note”
Tiny Things Last
A tiny thing can last for years. The memory of it can be as fresh as the first second, the leaves on the bush as green, the soil underneath as loamy and dark and the tiny elves’ footprints as distinct. My brother would motion… Continue Reading “Tiny Things Last”
Advent 15: Gone
I wrote my sister a letter to tell her about our very sick brother but she didn’t answer me or call him which was more deadly than the last time I wrote to her when she sent back my letter unopened crammed in an… Continue Reading “Advent 15: Gone”
Golden
I pushed the button for the 14th floor, the tower suite. I got off the elevator and looked down at my feet. I was barefoot. This seemed crazy to me although I often go barefoot, not to meetings, though, never before had I been… Continue Reading “Golden”
Beautiful Boy
I read the news of my nephew’s death on Facebook. I knew it was coming but I didn’t in the way that anyone older finds it so hard to believe that a younger person would die first. We think dying will be linear and… Continue Reading “Beautiful Boy”
Tiny Things Last
A tiny thing can last for years. The memory of it can be as fresh as the first second, the leaves on the bush as green, the soil underneath as loamy and dark and the tiny elves’ footprints as distinct. My brother would motion… Continue Reading “Tiny Things Last”
A Long Time Coming
I asked so much of her and I never said thank you. It’s hard to believe looking back like I did today, sorting through hundreds of photos, some so old that they were printed in squares like they were taken with a Brownie camera,… Continue Reading “A Long Time Coming”
Old Roy, Deer Slayer
I’d never seen one before but I knew what it was right away. The contraption laying at my feet underneath my dad’s old Sears picnic table was an animal trap. It sat in a heap, the chain and the two toothsome jaws, rusty with… Continue Reading “Old Roy, Deer Slayer”
When Push Comes to Shove
They’re not crazy about each other at the moment. They’re kind of going their separate ways. But I can predict, as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow morning, that when push comes to shove, one of my adopted Nicas will throw down for… Continue Reading “When Push Comes to Shove”
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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