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My mother-in-law was a small woman with a voice as soft and earnest as a whisper at bedtime. But what she lacked in vocal heft she made up for in determination and attitude.
She was a confident, …
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By Robin Garrison Leach
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10/21/26
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It used to be referred to by a full noun. Telephone. Sometimes ‘phone’. Never ‘cell’. We had telephones in our houses, connected to our walls or sitting on tables. Usually, there was only …
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By Robin Garrison Leach
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10/14/26
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We are required by law to wear seat belts in our cars. But there was a time when Mom was the only seat belt we needed.
In the event of a sudden stop (or even the threat of one), her maternal …
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By Robin Garrison Leach
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10/7/26
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It’s pretty great being invisible. My disappearance from others’ notice is making my life much easier. And all it took was living long enough.
From the time I became old enough to look …
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By Robin Garrison Leach
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9/30/26
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My brothers decided to have their friend, John Graham, over to spend the night. I was 13, and he was my first crush. The boys spent all afternoon in the backyard, and after supper they clomped to my …
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By Robin Garrison Leach
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9/23/26
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It’s 9 a.m. I’ve finished Wordle, read the latest obits in the area, and scrolled through Facebook. The world outside my living room window is chugging along: cars whizzing here and there, people …
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By Robin Garrison Leach
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9/16/26
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Mom always had a perfectly-sized box ready and waiting. I’d climb onto the bed and under the covers, all sniffly and feverish, and wait for the sound of a serrated kitchen knife cutting through …
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By Robin Garrison Leach
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9/9/26
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When I was growing up, smoking was as normal as breathing. We thought it meant we were mature and worldly, and it was a given that we would all smoke someday.
My brother, Jim, always the …
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By Robin Garrison Leach
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9/2/26
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My daughter climbed the steps of the school bus on the first day of kindergarten, her tiny legs stretching to meet each stair. She plopped down on a bench facing our home and glanced out the window.
…
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By Robin Garrison Leach
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8/26/26
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They arrive in late summer, lurking within paper bags and tattered cardboard boxes. It’s an old menace — one that finds its way to the surface of our hungry society each summer. We bring it on …
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By Robin Garrison Leach
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8/19/26
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I am a member of an exclusive group of humans. Though small in number-only 15% of the world’s population are members — we have infiltrated every arena of life and learned to adapt to the …
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By Robin Garrison Leach
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8/12/26
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I was next in line at the grocery checkout. The woman in front of me was ready to pay; she fumbled her hand inside her purse and withdrew a worn, black checkbook cover.
She set it atop the tiny …
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By Robin Garrison Leach
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8/10/26
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We played Bottle Cap Baseball all summer long when I was a girl; the laundromat up the street saved all the Tab, Orange Crush, and Pepsi bottle caps from their machine for us. My brothers would amble …
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By Robin Garrison Leach
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7/29/26
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The Ziploc bag gaped open obscenely, its filmy girth impaled atop an empty glass. Tiny drips of soapy water collected at each corner. Foggy shapes and patterns tattooed the bag’s surface, leaving …
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By Robin Garrison Leach
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7/22/26
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Your wonderful indoor bathroom. If you’re under 50, you may not realize just how good you have it.
Regardless of the weather or time of day, when we had to go, we sprinted to the outhouse …
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By Robin Garrison Leach
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7/15/26
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Glossy signs were tacked to electric poles all over town each July. The carnival was coming! The dusty, burnt grass and cracked parking lots of the city park was about to turn into a wonderland of …
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By Robin Garrison Leach
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7/8/26
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Independence Day has lost its name. In a moment of laziness or maybe just forgetfulness, many of us decided to take away the descriptive title and replace it with a calendar number.
To most …
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By Robin Garrison Leach
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7/1/26
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It was late, and I was tired. I’d been sneezing all day, feeling the kind of sick that is too mild to treat and too annoying to ignore. My nose was red and sore, it hurt when I swallowed, and I was …
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By Robin Garrison Leach
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6/24/26
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“Michelle’s daddy can lift a house!” My five-year-old daughter cried giant tears. She wiped her nose with a dirty fist and glared at the back door as it slammed shut behind her. “Michelle …
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By Robin Garrison Leach
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6/17/26
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All through winter, we dreamed of the day we could go barefoot again. We wedged double-socked feet into rigid snow boots; our toes wriggled like worms on fishhooks. Scrunched together, covered with …
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By Robin Garrison Leach
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6/10/26
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