One of the childhood memories I treasure the most is the summer evening I found an injured lightning bug. Its wings were bent and useless.
Heartbroken by this poor creature’s dilemma, I carried it to where Mom was working in the flowerbed behind the garage. I cried as I showed her the bent bug. Continue reading The lightning bug prayer
I wanted to hold on to some of those moments. I tried to savor them while they lasted, but when I look back, their ghostly flavor still lingers in my mind, proof that I never finished tasting them. Continue reading When in North Africa- Part 2
Last year, a fellow immigrant in Spain asked me to visit her when she went back to her country for the summer. I didn’t.
But this year I did. Continue reading When in North Africa- Part 1
One minute too late. I watched the bus roaring away, atypically on time.
Where could I have gained that missing minute? Continue reading One minute too late
Her tearless story was like too many stories I’ve heard. Another rocky marriage. And she barely in her twenties. She refused to tell her mother because it would make her worry. Continue reading Only God can redeem a broken life
I was bustling down the quiet morning street toward the bus stop when it hit me. Today was Saturday. And I had looked at the weekday bus schedule. The Dalías bus had gone ½ hour ago.
At 10:30, the day was already looking bleak. Continue reading Take a hike
9:30. All I wanted to do was get ready for bed and curl up with a book for an hour or two.
My phone buzzed. It was my friend: “My son is sick. I have to take him to the ER but I can’t go alone.” Continue reading Reluctance and gratitude
Within the last month, I have had strangers approach me at the bus stop to ask about bus schedules or destinations. I began to wonder if, somewhere along the line, I have become an expert of the local bus system. Continue reading Of buses
There was still no glimmer of light between the slats of the blinds.
From the street below came the familiar creak of the neighbor’s metal garage door and the roar of the box truck. Greenhouse work doesn’t rest. A passing car dropped off noisy teenagers who were still on a high from their night-long partying. Continue reading Just a normal day
Our final stop was Florence, Italy. Since we had already done a quick tour of Pisa the same day, we arrived tired… but still had a long walk to reach our airbnb (due to a [not-so-slight] miscalculation). Our little suitcase rattled long-sufferingly along behind us. Continue reading Belated birthday trip: Florence
