it's a convoluted mess
December. Joe has already been gone a full month. Logically, I know this is real, but it certainly still does not feel like it. November is mostly a blur. I spent a lot of time staring at the wall or crying—or staring at the wall while crying—and barely paying attention to hours upon hours of old cooking shows and even older cartoons. I also played a lot of Solitaire. What’s great—and by great, I mean… Keep reading…Night Follows Day…
My brother Joe died. Typing those words does not make this seem any more real or any less impossible, but it’s true. Friday, November 4th, 2022. He was 54 years old. Mom called at 8:00 in the morning. I knew something was wrong as soon as I saw her number on the screen. I knew something was VERY WRONG as soon as I heard her voice. I was not prepared for what she had to… Keep reading…Joe.
Life… Here’s the thing about life: It happens. Sometimes a whole lot of it happens all at once and leaves your mind spinning. When life happens, I feel compelled to write about it. I’m a writer and writing about life comes with the territory. It helps me work through the convoluted mess that is my brain. It helps me remember when things happened. But the problem I often run into is that there are certain… Keep reading…Things unseen…
Christmas is over. Bob still has a week of vacation. I have no idea what day it is. Our sleep schedule is hosed. We’ve eaten too many cookies. Adulthood: acting like lazy teenagers because we can. In between the pesky responsibility of being an adult. But hey…vacation. Christmas. Two days of familial social obligations. For two staunch introverts that’s a whole lot of human interaction. The day after we slept late and then took a… Keep reading…It’s only just begun…
Dear Phantom Smoke Stench, Your daily visits are beyond excessive at this point. Please to be on with your merry way. No love, Me — It’s snowing. The weather folks can’t make up their mind on how much we’re supposed to get, but the most current forecast says 6 to 8 inches by sometime tomorrow. Oh Joy. It begins. It snowed on Thanksgiving. Not a lot—at least around the Cities—but enough to make people really… Keep reading…Go where it feels like home…
I haven’t actually seen my family since Ellie’s birthday party in July. It always feels weird getting together with my siblings because I am so much not like them. I never really realized how much until I didn’t see them constantly. Hunter has a mustache and is taller than Mike. He’ll be seventeen in two months. Noah is finally taller than me, his voice is changing, and he tries to speak in a higher register… Keep reading…Lost my mind a thousand times…