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Category: Real Stories

Paradise in Flames: Losing the Town I Loved

Paradise in Flames: Losing the Town I Loved

by: Dena Moes “You should look at the smoke behind your house,” my neighbor said while pointing. “You really should look.” After a restless night’s sleep, I had woken up tired. My usually cheerful fifteen year old Sophia, who considered herself our “only child” now that her sister had left for college, woke up too late for breakfast and couldn’t find her shoes. Our morning was punctuated by yelling, which finally stopped when the carpool arrived. After they pulled out…

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Out of the Ordinary: Christmas Treasures

Out of the Ordinary: Christmas Treasures

by: Trish Cantillon On the first Thursday of December my mom and I would do our “Christmas walk” through Beverly Hills. Back then, Thursday was the only night stores were open past six o’clock. We’d drive the few blocks from our house and park across the street from Good Shepherd Church, the same place we parked every Sunday for Mass. The stained glass windows that lined the side of the church looked spooky in the dark, but the two Mission-style…

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Thank You: Notes

Thank You: Notes

by: Lauren Jonik Autumn is a time of harvest—of gathering up the fruits of the year’s labor. It typically is a time when we come together to acknowledge the nourishment before us. A recent conversation with a friend sparked me thinking about how closely the concept of abundance is linked to impermanence. My friend mentioned that one day, she likely would be going to her children’s homes for Thanksgiving instead of them coming to hers. It would be different. So…

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Like a Diamond: What It’s Like to Live With Autism As a Woman

Like a Diamond: What It’s Like to Live With Autism As a Woman

by: Veneranda Aguirre You ever heard the term fugazi? It’s Italian-American slang for a fake diamond. I knew words like that growing up because I was precocious since infancy. I could speak in full sentences at 18 months, but only in Spanish. I absorbed everything, apparently. Even celebrities on TV. One night my father came into my nursery after working two jobs. Since he was rarely home when I was awake, I didn’t recognize him. And I started to cry. “I’m…

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Interior Designs: How Home Shapes Us

Interior Designs: How Home Shapes Us

by: Lauren Jonik Dena stood in the corner of the bathroom with a sledgehammer in her hand and a smile on her face. The pale pink bathtub and the ceramic tiles on the wall soon would be gone. As I scrolled through her photos, I wondered if it was a good idea that she and I had become Facebook acquaintances— I didn’t know her well enough to consider her a friend in any real sense of the word. My family…

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