There are two hundred steps on the staircase in the Valea Morelor Park, Kishinev, Moldova. I’m ten years old. It’s 1986, and I walk with my mom, dad, and younger sister at the top of the staircase. The staircase looks to me as long as life.  You get down the stairs, and you end up at the lake. I  love to come here, and it feels so fancy and festive. My parents are in their forties, and I feel happy to be together. Mom and Dad dressed up in their nice clothes. They dress us up

I fought tooth and nail to get my ex convicted. Strike that. Reverse. First nail then tooth. I had chewed my nails raw between the months of court hearings. Like everything else bureaucratic in Mexico, it was a tedious, nonsensical uphill battle. The final judgment? A measly warning and a barely-there restraining order—no distance specified. That’s when I noticed how hard I had been clenching my jaw and the  awful pain in my lower right molar. It would come and go, not unlik

It is 3pm on a Friday afternoon and I am thinking of you, Mama. I am thinking of your stub of a nose that resembles mine. I am thinking of the gold chain around your neck and how my sister and I wear ones identical to it with our own Chinese zodiac signs. I am thinking of how I rarely have any pictures of the two of us together past the age of twelve. I am thinking of the playlist I made for your birthday one year, how you listen to it everyday and say it is the best gift any

“It’s ridiculous. It’s taking you hours, practically a whole afternoon to get ready.” There was unconcealed disapproval in my father’s tone. He was scornful of women who primped and preened before presenting themselves to the world, scoffed about the wife of a colleague who took an hour to do her hair and makeup each morning before heading out to teach eight-year-olds. Mum wasn’t like that. Practical, sporty and tanned – a woman with a low golf handicap who could back a trail

We said “I do,” under an arch twisted with Star Jasmine. Her vines wrapped around a metal trellis, twisting, hugging, clinging to the...

Part 1: Raggedy Ann: Death and the Doll    She was sitting slumped over in the rocking chair, staring. The soundtrack is a profundo...

The first time I watched P.S. I Love You my cousin had just been diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer. I’d heard all about the movie...

I used to think becoming my best self meant achieving perfection—pristine choices, ideal timing, a life tied up in a neat little bow. I...

The Perfect First Boyfriend 1 Cup Cigarette Ash                                                                 1 Cup Hair...

It wasn’t painful, there were no teeth, no pain, just pure darkness.   As I began descending, the sensation felt like an unexpected and...

My dad taught me how to ride a bike.  I was old enough to have opinions about how this all should happen—firstly, that I be well-prepared...

I had been meaning to take a few dresses and rompers to the dry cleaners. I had rented three dresses to try on for my friends’ wedding...