I stood in my downtown Seattle office on Monday morning, looking out at the rain-streaked windows while my sister’s voice echoed in my…
The smell of roasted turkey and cinnamon filled our small dining room. It was a smell I had worked all day to create.…
My name is Cassandra. I am thirty-two years old and a combat medic in the Army. After nine grueling months deployed overseas, all…
The first thing I heard that morning was my phone. It wasn’t the alarm. It was a series of small, sharp sounds. A…
At my own birthday dinner, my mom whispered to my brother, “While everyone’s here, go change her locks.” He did. And what he…
From the front row, my parents looked so proud. They were beaming, ready to watch their two daughters graduate. My twin sister, Laya,…
At 5:02 a.m., a fist pounded on my apartment door. It was not a polite knock. It was a frantic, desperate rhythm that…
I pulled into my parents’ long driveway in Scottsdale, holding an apple pie I’d baked all morning. I worked in finance in Chicago,…
“You’re so awkward that everyone feels uncomfortable. Don’t come.” My mother’s words echoed in my head as I sat cross-legged on my living…
“You’re so awkward that everyone feels uncomfortable. Don’t come.” My mother’s words echoed in my head as I sat cross-legged on my living…