Memoir

The stray hair did not stray so far from the truth — It is said, by the people who like to say things, that a good lie should always contain an element of truth. I do not know whether the bad hair day was a good lie. It was certainly an effective one. “What’s wrong with you?” asked irritated teacher Number 1…

Then he went to work and left us trapped in there — Twenty-six years ago, my husband and I were new parents of a new baby boy. We had been on the adoption list for three years and had one more to go. Suddenly, we got a call from the adoption agency. We were blessed with a brand-new baby boy. …

Ki In IOP: It’s been a journey — Not long ago I wrote a piece called, Hi, My Name Is Kristi. This was a big step for me in my rediscovery. It isn’t even rediscovery. That’s the wrong word because I’m not looking to go backward anymore. I spent far too long pining for a past that didn’t…

An update for the new year — MaryClare isn’t my government name, but it’s the name I was baptized with, making it my Christian name and therefore my real name. …

Even in Vermont, a well-grown apple tree is expensive. Why? The care. The rootstock. The grafting. The years of tending, pruning, keeping the sapling growing on a portion of good land. Fertilizer. And at last, a label, looped around an outstretched branch like a plastic hospital bracelet on a baby…

I let him do anything because I wanted him to love me — Hector and I were squeezed together on a couch in a giant room playing bingo. It was the middle of the day and our cruise ship was in open water. Most of our fellow gamblers were middle-aged or older, and many of them sat in couples. …

1968, Olongapo, Philippines —