I sit in one of the folding metal chairs that lines the perimeter of the gym. It’s Friday night dance class at Bryan Junior High in 1977. I’m wearing a skirt, pantyhose, and white gloves as per dance class dress code. Girls sit with one ankle behind the other and hands clasped together on laps. Boys wear shirts and ties and sit with both feet on the floor and palms faced down on each thigh. None of these formalities, however, will save me from the embarrassment of what’s to come. We all … [Read more...] about Choose Your Story, Change Your Life
Why There’s A Waitlist To Live In Our Basement
When my dad died at the end of 2019, my mom was thinking of selling her house in Elmhurst and moving to a condo nearby. She and Dad had lived there since 1972. It’s where I grew up and subsequently where our three children spent a good deal of their childhood visiting their grandparents. Even before Dad was gone, with coffee mugs in our hands, we used to gather around mom and dad’s dining room table and imagine how fun it would be to build a family compound together. My sister Cat was planning … [Read more...] about Why There’s A Waitlist To Live In Our Basement
The Joy of Putting A Bookshelf in My Bathroom
I am sitting on the toilet in the bathroom of our new apartment perusing books on the shelf directly in front of me. I pull Think Again by Adam Grant off my black bookcase just an arms-length away from my “seat.” I open the spine to a random page and read: “Questioning ourselves makes the world more unpredictable. It requires us to admit that the facts may have changed, that what was once right may now be wrong…” I replace it face up on top of the others—to be continued next … [Read more...] about The Joy of Putting A Bookshelf in My Bathroom
Learn to Love the Bomb
It’s the morning of April 19, 2011 when I receive the email. It's from a friend who has an acquaintance in desperate need of an actress to step in to an original play due to open in ten days. They have fired the current actress and need someone—PRONTO. “Here’s the phone number to call, if you’re interested,” the email reads. I’m scared to make the call, but I’m intrigued because the play is written and directed by three former Second City guys, and I think it would be cool to work with … [Read more...] about Learn to Love the Bomb
Which Book Would You Read First And Why?
Based on the following three opening lines from three new bestselling books, which one would you want to read first? 1) Of all the rooms and halls and landmarks that make up the White House and its grounds, it was the West Colonnade that I loved best. For eight years that walkway would frame my day, a minute-long, open-air commute from home to office and back again. It was where each morning I felt the first slap of winter wind or pulse of summer heat; the place where I’d gather my thoughts, … [Read more...] about Which Book Would You Read First And Why?