Alphabet a History

Our move date is fast approaching (two more weeks) and I’ve been feeling nostalgic. This is the longest I have lived anywhere. Ever. In my whole life. I’ve been in this apartment almost 4 1/2 years. I moved in as a newlywed and I’m moving out as a mother of a 3-year-old (still married, of course, but no longer a newlywed). A lot has changed. A lot has stayed the same, but I’d say there’s been more change than at any other time in my adult life. In the vein of my Alphabet Series, I’m writing a compilation of all the moves I’ve made in my adult life, since I graduated from…

The following piece of creative nonfiction is part of a series I started on my personal blog a few years ago called “Alphabet: A History,” which is a collection of short, autobiographical vignettes, focusing mainly on relationships (familial, romantic, platonic, and self). It’s spring 2005 and I’m single again after two back-to-back failed relationships. I’m 28 and it feels like absolutely nothing and everything could still happen to me. I buy a bike at a thrift store for $40 and start riding for the first time in 15 years. Soon, I’ll upgrade to a different bike — one with actual gears — that I’ll buy brand new for $180. I’ll ride that…

The following piece of creative nonfiction is part of a series I started on my personal blog a few years ago called “Alphabet: A History,” which is a collection of short, autobiographical vignettes, focusing mainly on relationships (familial, romantic, platonic, and self). It’s June, 1997, and I’m spending the summer before my senior year of college in Springfield, Missouri, working at the school library. My roommate has gone home for the summer and subleased her room to another friend of ours, but she comes back for her birthday and we throw a little party to celebrate. There’s this guy I know from the theater circle, Chad, who comes to the party. He…

It is the summer of 1988 and my mom and dad and sister and I are driving from St. Louis to Colonial Williamsburg and then Washington D.C. We play the license plate game and I fill the back of our rental car with vintage candy wrappers – papers that multicolored candy buttons once stuck to, and sticky elastics that were once candy necklaces, and empty pixie sticks. My tongue is electric blue for days. In D.C. we go to the White House and the Lincoln Memorial and the Smithsonian where I am most intrigued by one of Mr. Rogers’ cardigans. *********************************** I am 27 and in the south of France on vacation…

The following piece of creative nonfiction is part of a series I started on my personal blog a few years ago called “Alphabet: A History,” which is a collection of short, autobiographical vignettes, focusing mainly on relationships (familial, romantic, platonic, and self). I will be publishing the series on Wednesdays. S: Simone I’m 22 when Simone comes into my life. She — I don’t know she’s a she right away — shows up at my doorstep several days in a row, and on the third day I pick her up and take her to the neighbors’ place. The two girls live in the apartment behind mine and have said they’ll take her…

The following piece of creative nonfiction is part of a series I started on my personal blog a few years ago called “Alphabet: A History,” which is a collection of short, autobiographical vignettes, focusing mainly on relationships (familial, romantic, platonic, and self). Alphabet: A History (M) Mattress It’s June, 2004 and I’m moving into a 1-bedroom apartment on Winnemac Street. I’m a ten-minute walk from the park in one direction, a ten-minute walk from the lake in the other, and I’m right around the corner from the Hopleaf. It’s the first time I’ve lived alone in almost four years, so I’ve bought a new mattress to honor the occasion. It’s a Sterns…

The following piece of creative nonfiction is part of a series I started on my personal blog a few years ago called “Alphabet: A History,” which is a collection of short, autobiographical vignettes, focusing mainly on relationships (familial, romantic, platonic, and self). I will be publishing the series on Fridays. Alphabet: A History (L) Lake Michigan It’s May, 2008, and I’m visiting Chicago for the third time since I moved to New York less than 8 months ago. May is tied with October for my favorite month here and the colors at the lake today are a big reason why. I’m with Chad who took a day off from work and we’re…

The following piece of creative nonfiction is part of a series I started on my personal blog a few years ago called “Alphabet: A History,” which is a collection of short, autobiographical vignettes, focusing mainly on relationships (familial, romantic, platonic, and self). I will be publishing the series on Fridays. Alphabet: A History (K) Kimbrough It’s 1998 and I’ve just graduated from college. I’m moving out of the 2-bedroom duplex I’ve shared with my friend Becky for the last two years and moving into a 1-bedroom apartment on the bottom floor of a big, white, dilapidated house on Kimbrough. It’s the first time I’ve ever lived alone and I piece together a…

The following piece of creative nonfiction is part of a series I started on my personal blog a few years ago called “Alphabet: A History,” which is a collection of short, autobiographical vignettes, focusing mainly on relationships (familial, romantic, platonic, and self). I will be publishing the series on Fridays. Alphabet: A History (J) Jackson It’s February 10, 2011 and I’ve taken two pregnancy tests today and they’ve both been positive. The first one is so faint, I think it’s negative, but a second test an hour later confirms what I feel in my gut: I’m pregnant. When Drew comes home, I show him the tests and he looks at me like,…