The Unofficial Guide to Life
A very loved copy of Little Women sits quietly on my bookshelf and fills a tender place in my heart. With bent corners and pages slightly stained from tears that have fallen upon them, it’s a book I’ve read over and over again. At first, with my sisters, gathered around our own Marmee. Then by myself, stumbling along on my own journey from girlhood to womanhood.
Continue reading “What the March Sisters Taught Me About Money”
If you hate wasting food and can’t bear to throw away any kitchen scraps – like a lettuce head – I’m happy to report that my mom experimented with regrowing lettuce from the stem.
Continue reading “How to Regrow Lettuce From the Stem”
I’ve been sitting by my window every day for the past three months. It’s quiet at times, noisy at others. When it’s quiet, the only sound is the clicking of my computer. And when it’s noisy, it’s like a symphony’s out there playing a private performance just for me.
Continue reading “Sounds I’ve Heard From My Window”
Journal Entry Written June 6, 2014
Yesterday I had a grandpa and today I do not. Opi died last night, on his birthday, which I didn’t even remember. I spent the day as normally as any other day. I wrote in my journal while eating breakfast, went to work, came home, taught piano, and then sat down to watch Elysium. Then, right in the middle of my ordinary, everyday life, the phone rings. I think nothing of it. Mommy comes down the stairs.
Continue reading “How It Felt When Opi Died”
The next morning, it rained. Wrapped up in my green coat, I made my way over to the 9/11 memorial. It was quite emotional. The names of everyone who died were engraved around the waterfall. A rose is placed on a person’s name on their birthday. It was so surreal to be standing there, knowing that hundreds of people had died in that very spot.
Continue reading “Part 4: The Statue of Liberty”
Journal Entry Written September 15, 2012
Karina has gone to England and is most likely not coming back until December 18th. I remember thinking, on the night before she left, that this was my last night with the Karina I grew up with. She’s not going to come back the same girl. She’ll have a taste for freedom and maybe never even want to come back and I’ll probably break my heart. She’ll do things I can’t even imagine doing and meet people I’ll never meet. She’ll move forward and when she comes back, I’ll probably still be in the same place.
Continue reading “When You’re the One Left Behind”
I always think of history as something that doesn’t happen to me. Instead, history is something that happened a long time ago, something that I read about in textbooks, something that might have museums or memorials dedicated to it.
Continue reading “How Will History Remember Coronavirus?”
Journal Entry Written May 28, 2014
Well, I did it. Today, I walked across the stage in a gown and cap, shook hands with the Chancellor and Dean, and became an official alumni of UBC. Looking back, I can’t believe I actually did it.
Continue reading “A Graduation Story”
I had a plan. In fact, I always have a plan. On scraps of paper, in my notebooks, and in memos on my phone, I write down my years at a glance. 2020 was the year I would head south to traverse the unknown frontiers of Central and South America. I’d eventually make my way to Israel, and Eastern Europe, then celebrate Christmas in England.
Continue reading “Into the Unknown: Coronavirus Edition”