Household Words: 2

In Middleton, I was in the school of social work. I had decided against medical school. My mother and brother were in a car accident years before, and they were just bodies, problems and numbers, in that E.R. I wanted people to be something more than bodies. I worked in a fabric store during those […]

Padding

I blame Buddha. I blame meditating. All this encouraging to open up has made me too… open. Vulnerable. It has made me anxious. Buddhism (in my readings) is about opening up. Not having any place to hide. Not pretending that what is happening is not happening. Actually, like, living your life as you go. It […]

Walking Home

We were walking wounded that night. She has white hair, and uses a cane. She also has the neatly layered mind of someone who could either be described as “mentally disabled” or “serene.” For my part, I was walking gingerly through a stitch of pain. A roaring charley horse had woken me up the night […]

Household Words: Episode 1

Although I didn’t like the house, that doesn’t mean I enjoyed watching it burn. It was poorly designed. The floor plan was awkward. And I didn’t like the look of it. There were two gables in the top, Siamese twins. One set of eyes was Ellen’s bedroom, veiled in white, and the other was her […]