When I got engaged to Chris, my cousin Jenna pounced with an offer that felt too good to turn down. “Let me design your wedding dress!” she said, her smile wide, her eyes a little too excited. Jenna wasn’t just any amateur with a sewing machine. She was actually a talented designer and seamstress. Plus, …
Amelia Rose
I knew my marriage was over the second I found out Dan was cheating. Not because I was angry—God, no. I wasn’t even surprised. If anything, I felt relieved, like a cord that had been pulled so tight for so long had finally snapped. It was Thursday morning, just after I dropped the kids off …
I drive a school bus. It’s a way to help support our retirement funds that, I admit, are pretty modest. But, it’s also a great way to keep myself busy. However, one early fall, something happened that changed lives in our community forever. It happened after I noticed something strange with one of the kids. …
Why is it that some people just seem to want to be miserable? Now, I’m not big on revenge—it usually takes too much energy, and more often than not, it backfires. But, for some people, it seems like they are looking for ways to make other people suffer… They force themselves into other people’s business, …
People say you shouldn’t take your work home with you. But after 20 years of teaching, I’ve learned that sometimes, work finds its way home whether you want it to or not… …especially when a student like Emily Carter walks into your life. Emily showed up in my third-grade class halfway through the fall semester. …
You know how some people just think that their lives are the most important? I think they call it ‘main character syndrome.’ Like everything they do is the only thing that matters… Like, they’re so convinced of their own unique importance that they have zero consideration for others. Especially if ‘others’ are strangers. But, a …
You ever met someone so petty, so obsessed with the tiniest details, that it feels like they just want to be miserable? That was Paula. When I took a part-time office job back in the late ’90s, I thought Paula was just another well-meaning, slightly overzealous office manager. I was wrong. It didn’t take long …
You meet all kinds of people in New York City, especially in Union Square. Some come for food trucks, others for protests, and some—like us—for a little open-air conversation about spirituality. It was 2018, and a group of us had gathered on the stone steps to talk about meditation, prayer, and belief systems. Nothing heavy—just …
Some people have a talent for leaving others hanging. They disappear without warning, without apology, like they’ve got the whole world on standby, waiting for them to stroll back whenever they feel like it. Like Brittany. She’s mastered that art. She always knew how to keep people on the hook, and if they got hurt …
There are two kinds of fall breaks: the kind where you go out, have fun, and come back with sunburns—and the kind where you stay trapped at home, drowning in boredom and bad decisions. Guess which one I got? See, I didn’t just get grounded—no, that would’ve been too easy. After a tiny misunderstanding at …