12th Birthday

12 always seemed like a milestone year to me. 12 is so different from 13, and 14, and 15, and 16 and 17, and 18. When we are growing up, each year represents a whole and particular time in our lives. What does 12 send you back to? It takes me back to the awkward...

My Mother

Mother’s Day is the day we’re supposed to, as a people, spend money to, as Charles Foster Kane once said, “buy things.” We do this to prove our love because somewhere down the line we were taught that buying stuff equals love. We have to buy...

Leafenstein

I have two nieces. One of them has been wanting a little dog for years and years. Her mom and dad have three other very big dogs, like German Shepherd big. Finally, my niece wore her mom down and they zeroed in on this little rescue dog named Leaf. She is tiny but...

My Tooth Hurts

I noticed that a part of my tooth had chipped off a few weeks ago. It started as a kind of uncomfortable space between my molars but I thought, I’ll just go get a crown. Or else I thought, this is going to stop feeling annoying eventually. But I waited too long...