The Fireworks That Brought Us Back
For three years I stood alone in my own backyard on the Fourth of July, lighting the exact same fireworks my son Kevin and I… Read more
The Flag I Fold Every Fourth
Every Fourth of July for fifty years I have folded one flag alone on my back porch, and until this year not one soul in… Read more
The Fourth They Let Me Belong
Gail Stroud stood up on the courthouse steps with a paper plate in her hand and told the whole square that a certificate does not… Read more
The Flag His Nephew Tried to Claim
Tomas stood up in the middle of my husband’s funeral, straightened his jacket, and said loud enough for the whole church to hear, “She was… Read more
The Woman Who Was Really In It
Hollis Deemer waited until the whole room was quiet, then pointed his beer at me and said, “Renata here was never really in it. You… Read more
The Grandson I Raised Alone
The man in the good gray suit stood up in the third row and said, loud enough for the whole gymnasium to hear, “That’s my… Read more