A year after my mother’s d.eath, my father announced he was marrying her identical twin. Everyone around us treated it like a happy ending. But at their wedding,...
When I married my husband and moved into his house, I told myself I was doing the right thing. A fresh start. A new family. A chance to...
I’m fifty-five years old, and for the first time since I was nineteen, I don’t have anyone to call my husband. Greg and I were married for thirty-six...
When my husband died after a long illness, the house felt too big and too quiet at the same time. Every room echoed with the memory of machines...
I’m 28 years old, and I grew up in an orphanage. By the time I was eight, I had already learned the meaning of rejection. I had been...
As the years pass, our bodies start communicating in quieter, more nuanced ways. Energy levels may drop faster, digestion can become less reliable, and overall vitality may not...
The bell above the bookstore door chimed softly as I was restocking the classics shelf, the late-afternoon light slanting through the dusty windows. It was usually my favorite...
I was seventeen when my life split cleanly in two. One moment, I was a scared high school junior standing in my parents’ kitchen, hands shaking as I...
The woman sat on the concrete just outside the glass doors of our office building, her back pressed against the marble wall like it might absorb some warmth...
Nighttime leg cramps—clinically referred to as nocturnal leg cramps—are sudden, involuntary muscle contractions that strike during rest or sleep. They most commonly affect the calves, though the thighs...