When I entered college in the summer of 1998, I had one simple thought in my head:  Don’t be a statistic.  My teenage years were unstable, abusive, and marked by trauma I still carry in some ways today. I wanted out. I wanted distance from the chaos and a...

There is a point when making my hot tea that I must slow down. It’s the dreaded honey drip. The viscosity and sweetness of the natural sweetener takes time. Sure I could speed it up by microwaving the gold goodness but maybe there is a lesson in the wait. The aroma of...

Grandpa. He’s been gone just since I was 18. It’s hard to imagine sometimes that it’s been that long, but maybe I’m wondering how I got so grown up. I was his first grandchild and it’s well known to the rest of my cousins that I was his favorite. Recently, I was...