Community stories.
Stories about neighbors, small towns and strangers who show up.
The Bus That Was Never Full
The envelope was still in my left hand when she said it. Sixty-five dollars, in fives and tens, mostly from the weekend tip jar at... Read more
The Women Who Fed Us Anyway
The reception is better by the dumpster, so that is where I stood when I found out what my mother’s funeral lunch was worth to... Read more
The Journal Read Aloud To His Class
Gail Ruhl called at 8:15 on a Tuesday night, and I answered with a dish towel in one hand and a roasting pan in the... Read more
The Homecoming Crown Fifty Years Late
Connie Rasmussen held my tally sheet up to the library window like she was checking a dollar bill for a watermark. The radiator ticked under... Read more
Who Left the Firewood at My Door
The snow had quit sometime before four. I knew because I had listened to it quit. When I came down at six, in my robe... Read more
The Stranger Who Signed Only Private
I saw him during the second hymn. Chester’s brother Melvin was on my left with his hands folded over his belt buckle, and my daughter... Read more
The Neighbors Who Filled My Kitchen Table
The man from the state called on a Tuesday at 4:15 in the afternoon, right when the light comes low across my kitchen floor and... Read more
Nine Grandparents and a Four Dollar Lunch
Thursday is chicken and noodles over mashed potatoes at Orrin Elementary, and I have never seen a seven-year-old boy so happy to see a gravy... Read more
The Popcorn Balls on Elm Street
Marlene from church was the one who called me about the post. It was a Monday morning, five days before Halloween, and I was standing... Read more
Eleven Girls on a Trailer Floor
Courtney Hanson called me on a Sunday night in October, right when I had both hands in the sink scrubbing a cast iron skillet. My... Read more
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