Want to listen to the article? Great–listen here! In 2010, after a 17-year marriage, my husband asked for a divorce, saying he couldn’t be married anymore. We had two sons, 14 and 16, not quite two years apart, whom I had nursed over four years straight. My once-perky breasts weren’t the same after. Whose are? […]
Want to listen to the article? Great–listen here! I used to joke with my husband that I was planning to have breast surgery when I finished nursing. We had laughed hysterically about my desire for surgery because we both knew I was terrified of hospitals and drugs. I was an au naturel granola girl who hadn’t even […]
Want to listen to the article? Great–listen here! My boyfriend and I had a perfect Christmas with a Venezuelan meal, a fire pit, and dancing. But that night, he broke up with me; maybe he was grieving his former life with his ex and kids. I haven’t dated since and have embraced my independence while […]
Want to listen to the article? Great–listen here! What does a lifetime of loneliness look like, feel like in the body? Athena Dixon examines this question in her second book, The Loneliness Files, published by Tin House, and edited by one of my all-time favorite writers, Hanif Abduraqqib. Dixon’s debut essay collection, Incredible Shrinking Woman (2020), published by Split […]
Want to listen to the article? Great–listen here! PROMPT — If only … If he hadn’t stolen my hard drive and then blackmailed me,we would still be together.If he hadn’t lied about it,minimizing it,we would still be together.If we hadn’t argued at “Prep and Pastry” about Homecoming,I would have been with him in Mississippi […]
Want to listen to the article? Great–listen here! I. After six years of dating, after your fourth breakup with Tall Glass of Water, the water heater explodes and floods your things, the things you have finally moved from your coveted storage unit into his condo at his insistence. Tall Glass of Water believes you can only show […]
I was scraping by, unable to afford the cheapest rent in town—that is, until I left it all behind to buy a surprisingly glam trailer. After my husband left me 12 years ago, he stopped paying the mortgage on our family home. I was a stay-at-home mom to a 14- and 16-year-old, a full-time PhD student, […]
Want to listen to the article? Great–listen here! I told you I would name a poem After you As we did laps around the Safeway Shopping plaza Passing the Dollar Store Passing KonaBerry Frozen Yogurt, The Irish Pub You made references About the poems I could write About us on this night Walgreens was closed […]
Want to listen to the article? Great–listen here! Each night, for five nights, before I went to bed, I imagined him. I imagined exactly what he would look like. He had dark hair, dark eyes, and dark skin. He was tall—he had to be over 6-foot. I imagined his face with full lips, high cheekbones, […]