Story Dose

My husband, Trevor, had died four years earlier, so I had been raising our son, Bryce, alone. He was the center of my life, and for a long time, I thought the worst thing…

My daughter, Elodie, had been fighting leukemia for almost a year. There had been chemotherapy, needles, blood tests, nausea, and mornings when simply sitting up in bed took more strength than she wanted anyone…

My daughter attended her school dance in a gown she crafted out of her deceased father’s law enforcement uniform. When another student dumped a fruity drink all over it, she simply stood there, attempting…

“You remember.” I stepped closer. “I remember everything about that box.” A weak smile appeared on his face. “You were the one who painted it.” I almost laughed. Instead, tears filled my eyes. I…

PART 3 My mother had repeated those stories so many times that eventually they stopped sounding like accusations and started sounding like facts. But standing on my porch, watching Lucy bury her face against…

I slid my thumb under the flap. The paper inside made a dry, deliberate sound as it separated from the glue. June closed her eyes. Behind us, gravel crackled. They were still coming. I…

PART 2: For several seconds, nobody spoke. The document on my screen was only three pages long, but it carried more weight than every word my family had thrown at me over the past…

PART 3 The word landed strangely. “Why Ohio?” “Dad says his company is transferring him.” I sat down slowly on the edge of my bed. “Michael never told me that.” “I know.” “Jessica didn’t…