Living Through Loss
grief
loss
widowhood
I lost my husband of forty-seven years. The first six months felt like breathing underwater. What saved me was his old gardening routine. Every mornin...
Building Something From Nothing
failure
business
persistence
Three businesses failed before I was forty. Bankrupt twice. My wife asked me to get a job. I said "just one more year." That year I learned that my eg...
Love After Heartbreak
relationships
divorce
second-chances
I was fifty-three, divorced, certain love had passed me by. Then I met Carlos at a salsa class—he stepped on my feet three times. I said "you're ter...
War And What Comes After
trauma
ptsd
healing
I came home from Korea and didn't speak for three months. Not a word. My mother sat with me every day in silence. One spring day she said "the garden ...
Starting Over In A New Land
immigration
belonging
identity
We came with seven children and two suitcases. I didn't speak English. Everything was foreign and frightening. My neighbor—she didn't speak my langu...
The Addiction That Almost Took Everything
addiction
recovery
reinvention
I drank for thirty years. Lost my family, my job, my home. Got sober at fifty-seven. Thought my life was over. Turns out, my life actually began then....