October 21st-22nd, 2016 “We want to go camping,” Mitch said to Tracy one evening in late September. He and his wife, Misty, were visiting Tracy and Becca, and all four of them were watching a movie together in the living room.   “You two go camping all the time,” Tracy returned, “what’s stopping you?”   “No,” Mitch replied. “We want all of us to go camping,” he explained. “Me and Misty, you and Becca, Heather and Katie. A...

September 4 - 7, 2009:   “So, my parents got a boat,” Tracy commented as if this was something everyone did eventually.   “A boat?” Heather replied. “What in the world are they going to do with a boat?”   It was a Saturday afternoon in late August. Heather and Tracy had not had the opportunity to see each other in several weeks, so they decided to eat lunch at a local restaurant. As they ate, they were catching up on thei...

July 28 – July 30, 2007 Heather was at home—yet, she wasn’t. She was not in the cute little house that she had just bought, nor the town she lived in. She was quite literally at home—meaning her parent’s house. It was the house she grew up in. The house that held so many memories, she almost couldn’t think straight. Every wall, every turn of a corner, every time she walked into a room, some vision of a world-gone-by would...

Wednesday, June 4th, 2007   “Wanna race?” Mr. Coleston asked as he and Heather walked out of the teacher’s lounge together. He made this joke at least once a month. Quite often, the two of them would find themselves leaving the lounge at the same time. Yet, they both took different routes through the school building and back to their rooms, which were across the hall from each other.     Heather smiled at the familiar ref...

Thursday, June 24, 1999 The power was out.  The power seemed to always go out during a storm.  Tonight was no exception. A flash of lightning lit up the sky outside.  A crack of thunder followed instantaneously, rattling the old window in its nearly dilapidated frame. Heather reached to the nightstand beside her and accidentally knocked over a beer can—an empty beer can.  It rolled off the stand and clanged against the ha...

Monday, February 2nd, 1998 “Happy birthday!” Becca said as she backed Tracy up against a shelf of books, their soft lips coming together instantly.  Tracy felt her girlfriend’s tongue slip into her mouth and greeted it with her own. She knew they shouldn’t be doing what they were doing, but ever since she had met Becca during her sophomore year of college, she had never been able to say no to her.  They were now more than...

(Saturday, Dec. 14, 2013) Mitch was expecting someone. He paced his living room floor nervously, anticipating the person’s arrival. As he took another step, he wobbled and nearly turned an ankle. “Stupid heels,” he muttered. He was still getting used to walking in high heels. He’d just put them on about fifteen minutes ago. He glanced down at the high heeled sandals, his exposed feet and his red, painted toenails. Is this...

Tuesday, November 8th, 1960 It was a happy night.  The 1960 presidential election had just reached its conclusion.  Well, for the most part. The election had pitted Senator John F. Kennedy against Vice President Richard Nixon.  What a campaign it had been. Loretta and Penny had been enthralled by every moment of it. From the party conventions, to the debates throughout the fall, and election night itself, they felt as if...

Saturday, October 31st, 1998 “So, is it possible to put this stuff on without opening your mouth?” Mitch asked as he delicately attempted to apply mascara to his eyelashes for the first time. “No, it’s not,” Heather answered simply from the bathroom doorway.  “Are you about ready?” she questioned. “We’ve been ready for thirty minutes.” “I’ve never done anything like this before.  I’m worried I’m going to look totally stup...

February 17th and 18th, 2006 The Public school system is a curious beast. If a teacher is employed by a school district, and that district discovers that said teacher possesses some skill that can be exploited—then, exploited it will be. “You were a cheerleader your sophomore year in high school? Great! You’re our new cheerleader coach.” “You were in a play in eighth grade? Want to be the drama club sponsor?” “You took tw...

Saturday, May 28, 2005 Heather couldn’t believe it had already been ten years.  Ten years since she’d sat in one of those classrooms. Ten years since she’d heard Mrs. Wagner’s warbling voice.  Ten years since she’d heard that bell ring for the last time. Ten years since she’d walked across that stage.   Heather’s ten-year high school reunion was approaching rapidly, and she was surprised to find herself slightly nervous. ...

August 5th, 2007: After Mitch turned thirty, he was experiencing a lot of the same emotions that most people feel when they reach such a milestone birthday. Am I going to be doing this job forever? Is this where I’m going to live for the rest of my life? Is this all I’m going to amount to? Those types of things. As his mind considered these thoughts, he made the decision that maybe it was time for him to buy a house. He’d...

Friday, July 4th, 1997 “Independence Day,” Heather corrected her mother testily.   “What’s that, dear?” Mrs. Meinders asked distractedly.   “The holiday is called Independence Day, not the Fourth of July,” Heather repeated.  She breathed out a sigh of exasperation. She had argued this point with countless people over the years.  It was a major pet-peeve of hers. “Do we call Halloween, October thirty-first? Do we say ‘Happ...

July 20th – 23rd, 1998 As Heather gazed out across the lush green grass, she thought to herself that she had been on this college campus more times in her life than she really cared to. She had never attended a class here, yet, she knew her way around the campus as if she was a fourth-year senior.  At the age of twenty-one, three years removed from high school, she honestly thought she would never return here. “Try to sta...

Friday, May 26, 2000 Heather had just finished her first year of teaching, and she was exhausted.  The everyday grind of a school year had taken its toll. As a student, she had never even come close to understanding just how much work was involved in teaching.  Working through lunch, staying at school past six o’clock in the evening, taking assignments home to grade, staying up into the wee hours of the morning just so sh...