
When Megan laughed across from me in that downtown coffee shop, it startled me like a door opening in a…

The first time I noticed it, it was something that should’ve been comforting. Sinatra hummed softly from my speaker. Beyond…

The restaurant had soft Christmas-white string lights tucked along the windows, the kind that made everyone look a little kinder…

The first time Valerie ever accused me of wanting something that belonged to her, we were kids. We were in…

My brother’s daughter said, “She thinks she’s special because she’s childless and rich.” My mom laughed until she cried. I…

The night my dad told me to get out, the little US flag magnet on the fridge was crooked. It…

The night I decided to end Melissa’s career, there was a tiny American flag peeling off the side of my…

When the police cruiser finally pulled away from the curb, its red-and-blue lights washing over the neat little ranch houses…

My mother didn’t lower her voice. She didn’t flinch. She just stared at me through the frozen grid of our…

My mother didn’t lower her voice. She didn’t flinch. She just stared at me through the frozen grid of…

The porch light above my parents’ front door flickered like it was nervous, throwing shaky halos over the faded American…

My husband walked out on me on a Tuesday evening in Ohio while our baby kicked under my ribs and…

My husband told me he didn’t need my love on a Tuesday night while the game blared in our living…

My parents skipped my wedding because their dog was sick, and now I sit at my little kitchen table in…

By the time the last bell rang, the American flag over our front entrance was barely moving in the late‑September…

My sister threw a wine glass at my parents’ Thanksgiving table because I didn’t tell her about my pregnancy before…

There’s a cheap little American flag magnet on my fridge. It used to hold takeout menus and utility bills. Tonight…

A cheap American flag magnet held my son’s birthday invitation to the freezer door while I changed the locks on…

My girlfriend said, “You are replaceable.” I replied, “Then watch me walk away.” I was standing at our tiny kitchen…

The day after my wife’s memorial, I stood at the end of the dock with a chipped blue coffee mug…