“Hey, Hybrid Bike, I see that Rider replaced your front tube today”, said Mountain Bike excitedly to Hybrid Bike.  Now it was Hybrid Bike’s turn to glow with pride.  “Yes, Mountain Bike, she did.  I am so pleased”, Hybrid Bike crooned.  “I j...  read more

My husband and I were walking our dog after dinner this evening.  As we neared Molasses the dog’s yard, we saw that she was out.  She was in a state of repose, looking more relaxed than I’ve seen her in a long time.  I told my husband that I’d quit taking our dog ...  read more

On a chilly April evening, Mountain Bike and Hybrid Bike were hanging out in the garage.  Earlier, Rider had taken Mountain Bike out.  Mountain Bike was still bursting with pride at having been the chosen one that day.“Hey”, Mountain Bike said to Hybrid Bike.  “Wh...  read more

A few months before my husband (then fiancé) and I were to be married, I got myself into some serious trouble.  I had started a new job, and totally loved it.  But I’d had a cold for a little while, and began to notice how cold the air conditioning seemed.  I thought n...  read more

When I first entered graduate school in Computer Science, I became friends with a classmate named Tom. I remember walking with him in the beautiful sprawling cemetery near campus.  After knowing him for a while, I began to avoid him.  It wasn’t because he was nerdy-looking, and it...  read more

Several years ago, a new puppy named Molasses arrived on the scene in my neighborhood.  She was a sweet little brindle mix, maybe some boxer and who knows what else.  At that time my dog had begun to feel a threatened by other dogs because she’d been attacked a couple of times.&nb...  read more

After I had been tutoring Tacha for a couple of years, I decided to become her “Big Sister” as well.  The community center used the term “Special Friend” rather than “Big Sister” and “Big Brother”.  In my orientation to the Special Friend ...  read more

Nature, when you forget to respect it, might just teach you a lesson you won’t forget.  “Mother Nature” is a mother of the “tough love” variety.  She might not give you three warnings before giving you timeout and making you sit in the corner.  She mig...  read more

OK, you might think that for a girl, it’s getting your period or needing a training bra. For boys, well, maybe it’s wet dreams.  I’m not a boy, so I can’t really speak to that.  But for me, it came much earlier.Yesterday, at the hardware store, I watched two litt...  read more

Note: I have revised this story in several ways based on my parents' more accurate memories of this difficult time.The day I turned eighteen, January 3, 1984, I came home from school imagining that we would celebrate my birthday that night.  Whatever the celebration was would be low-key, but...  read more