confessions of a reformed tourist
This photo of my mother was taken in 1970. She was a year out of college and teaching biology at Cathedral High School in New York City. She was born and raised in South Bend, Indiana. Living in Manhattan was an enormous challenge for her. That first winter, she tells me, she got herself a [...]
I was planning to explain this later, I was planning to write one last actually-in-Grenada post dedicated to the indelible images of the last few weeks, but enough people have asked the obvious question – WHY? – that I feel compelled to address WHY? before I leave, in spite of the fact that I have [...]
Emily came at night. She began with a timpani of thunder. At first, I survey from the corner of my verandah, until the blowing rain chases me indoors. I listen to her pummel my neighbor’s steel roof, as if taking a mallet to a steel drum, whaling on it like a wicked auntie with a [...]
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I am on my back, musing that it totally sucks to be a turtle. The doctor holds one leg and my mom holds the other. The doctor looks down and reports, huge smile on her face, “Your vagina is stretching quite nicely!” Um… Thank you? I almost laugh, [...]
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Thursday, May 18th, 2006. Four days before my due date but I planned to be two weeks overdue. I had lots of nesting scheduled. I was carrying small and feeling great. I had only stopped working ten days earlier, and only because of my swollen ankles.
First thing, I [...]
When I first arrived in Grenada in April of 2005 I was so malnourished, my skin would bruise under the barest touch. I was drowning in depression, hardly able to bear food in my mouth. Thankfully, I was coherent enough to want to get better. I knew that living under the tropical sun would just [...]
The best teachers in life are the ones who do not necessarily *tell* us everything they teach, but those who teach by example. The best teachers are those who let us make our own mistakes and learn from them. They are supportive, they are mentors, and perhaps the greatest strength of the best [...]
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Part VI
Back at home and work again, life went on and I tried to follow. Mom had stayed in Indiana. For the first time in three years she was easily accessible by phone, so we spoke nearly every day, something we’d never done before. She was itching to [...]
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Part V
On Friday, August 13, 2004, there was a department meeting at work. We’d just won several awards for one of our advertising campaigns, so even the Dragon Lady was in a good mood. Most of the meeting was spent reviewing our booty and planning how to announce [...]
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Part IV
I was wary of working in Manhattan. I had witnessed what I called the yuppie rat race. I’d already fled from it once. Out of necessity, I determined to try once more.
It took me almost three weeks to perfect my resume and send it out. Less than [...]