I’m going to China early tomorrow morning, and my niece Elaina, only two months into being three, is getting ready for bed. We’ve had an extended Easter weekend with both sides of Elaina’s family, and Elaina has been very happy about it. But now it’s over. I hug her, tell her goodbye for the morning. SheContinue reading “For sweetness”
Tag Archives: family
People like me
I meet people who think like me when I travel. Almost too much so, actually. I meet impoverished writers who tell me an effective way of getting free food is to find the unopened stuff in the trash bins in places like Boulder. I meet 30-year-olds living on fold-out couches all over the world, peopleContinue reading “People like me”
Halcyon Heline Botkin
My grandmother died today. It was strange, in a way, because I had just witnessed by first-ever live birth, racing my sister’s contractions in my red Subaru the two-plus hours to Moscow. I saw the baby’s name for the first time inked on the whiteboard and my eyes got a little misty: Norah Katherine, keepingContinue reading “Halcyon Heline Botkin”
Happy Christmas holidays
Christmas for our family lasts a few days. Christmas eve, Christmas day, Christmas II, wherein we often end up getting things for ourselves on sale, and then Isaiah’s birthday. His claim is that we celebrate his birthday every year together because he’s the youngest, but the date is serendipitous. This year, my nieces were oldContinue reading “Happy Christmas holidays”
Arkansas to Oklahoma
As a child, Collin spent his summers in Arkansas, on his grandparents’ 300 acres outside Little Rock. It’s surprisingly pleasant; nothing like I remember of my own childhood in neighboring Oklahoma. It’s hot and humid, but the breeze coming off the lake is delicious and there is shade everywhere. It’s green and the roads windContinue reading “Arkansas to Oklahoma”
Elaina becomes a little girl
This is Elaina. She has just turned one, and she likes health food. She is currently enjoying a stick of celery. She prefers it to the birthday cake on her tray. She is sort of good at sharing her presents with her older sister, who has a tendency to help herself anyway. Elaina’s not thatContinue reading “Elaina becomes a little girl”
Alt Christmas
Our family holidays are special, in every sense of the word. Often, it seems, there’s a whole lot of sitting around and waiting. Case in point, it’s Christmas afternoon and we have yet to crack open the bulging stockings. Two of my brothers are currently wrapping presents in the basement of our sister’s house, usingContinue reading “Alt Christmas”
Thanksgiving weekend
Between the two houses, because my parents bought a place next to my sister, there is a lot of space to sleep and to cook. So we’ve started having holidays there rather than up on the farm, what with its grand total of three bedrooms. Well, fourth of July… that’s different, because you can sleepContinue reading “Thanksgiving weekend”
In honor of my Grandfather
My Grandfather, John Norman Botkin, died 11 years ago, on September 21, 2001. I was in France — I had moved in with a French woman only two weeks prior after studying French for all of four months, and was dazed from the constant barrage of this largely-unknown language, from the sudden uncertainty of 9/11,Continue reading “In honor of my Grandfather”
The little girl and the good mans on the roof
My niece is getting to the age where she can tell stories. Sort of. Her first attempt was: “One time, a little girl, a man, and a lady. Summer.” And along with that, she’s sorting out who is a good guy and who is bad guy, which basically at this point seems to correspond toContinue reading “The little girl and the good mans on the roof”
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