At the beginning of her sophomore year of high school, my daughter changed her name. I learned about it through a nosy colleague of mine: "I was at the school for the prospective students' night when this girl comes up...
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The black cat dies is my refrain, and with her flies childhood. Theirs -- my children's -- not mine. I dug two graves this morning. The dry, funnel-shaped one left me unsettled. It meant I'd have to arrange the body,...
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Marine Corps cadence: Caller: I used to sit at home all day Called: I used to sit at home all day Letting my life just slip away Letting my life just slip away Then one day a man in blue...
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I pull the car into our spot in the driveway, just in front of the ornamental grasses I planted to hide the water meter from plain view -- a blight on the front of our none-too-attractive- in-the-first-place duplex. I'm returning...
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In the 1950's, move from apartment in Queens with stoops, playgrounds and the quick subway ride to streets and parks of Manhattan. Move to the sidewalk-less land of lawnmower, country club, and clean living rooms with two children under the...
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"I'm worried about her weight," Dr. O. said as he set Sophia down in the plastic bassinet next to my bed. One day old, she was five pounds even, down seven ounces from her birth weight. What I heard was:...
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So there we were, my husband David and I, on a road trip with our thirteen-year-old late last July, and I hadn't a thing to wear. And when I say road trip, you have to understand that I'm being somewhat...
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It's Christmas Eve and, for the seventh year in a row, we're on our way down Lakeshore Drive, headed for St. Clement. Technically, we live in Queen of Angels parish, and we're registered members at Our Lady of Mount Carmel....
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It's 6:30 on a Friday night, and Kirby and Ben have just finished their bath. Two naked rumps bounce past me on their way to the bedroom, where they will be prominently featured in the nightly naked booty dance--a joyful...
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