My uncle died yesterday of an illness no one bothered to investigate in a nursing home in the middle of nowhere. He had been placed on...

Yesterday was Groundhog Day, and the beginning of February often brings fearful storms to the places where the prairies kiss the Ozarks....

When I walked to the post office, it was chilly, overcast, and gusty, but quiet enough that I could hear the wind whipping the American...

On Saturday, I stood beside my best friend and watched his tall three-year-old jump around on playground equipment with a fearlessness I...

Today I put black and white ornaments on a small, artificial tree with my mother. We twisted paperclips into ornament hangers and hung up...

I sit in the coffee shop in Real Town, having just finished a raspberry scone with a white chocolate glaze that would be the envy of any...

The days are clear, and the leaves are turning autumn bright. They turn gold, then scarlet day by day. They are vividly red for a moment,...

Around here, I dance on a blade’s edge—leftist brain with a farmgirl heart. White-collar job with blue-collar sensibilities. I always...

“Military wife, huh?” my new coworker asked me with a grin. She had just learned that I spent my adult life in California, Colorado,...

I realized that I don't hug my mother very much. COVID and living alone have made my arms heavy, hesitant, and empty. I don't know how to...

Yesterday Mom and I stopped at a hometown diner in Smalltown on our way back from the Smalltown Cemetery, after decorating the grave of...