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Major Things I Learned from my Mother
“What if Mother remarried? Would you accept it?” “No way, are you crazy?” It was more of a nod than spoken words; a fast nodding “NAH”. Unthinkable. Despicable. Unacceptable. What was so insulting or sacred about it? (Nothing.) Did Mother not deserve to be happy? (Of course she did.) But the thought of having an outsider in the house was distressing. I didn’t think for a second (maybe because I couldn’t articulate it) about her happiness. It was not my mother’s style, I much later learned. But there was my optimistic sister taking a poll — and I guess she thought it’d be a fantastic idea to ask a 12-year-old…
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Fathers, be Good to Your Daughters Because Karma
“You don’t choose your family; they’re God’s gift to you.” Whoever said that, must’ve not had a real-life family. In the real world, all families are dysfunctional. And why on heavenly earth would a god gift you a dysfunctional family? To be clear, I wouldn’t trade my mom and my brothers for anything in the world. But my dad? That’s a whole different complicated story. I grew up without a father, and this is my story. Up until maybe 6 or 7 years old, I used to see my dad on a daily basis. Then, he just stopped showing up. That’s all I remember. It’s funny because, at that age,…
