“If you want to show your English friends that you’re trying to embrace the culture, here’s what you do…” The speaker at international students’ orientation pauses for dramatic effect. We lean forward and she says: “Have a drink in your hand.” When I moved to England, I wanted to acclimate to the culture. Looking back, … Continue reading What Living in England Taught Me
Why God Lets Me Feel Lonely
If on a lazy Sunday afternoon, you happen to be at a wine cellar in suburban Florida, sharing a cheese platter with your friends on the open-air patio, you may see a twentysomething girl hunkered in the corner by herself, slurping on bottomless mimosas and scribbling things down in her OfficeMax notebook. Psst…that’s me. For … Continue reading Why God Lets Me Feel Lonely
Why I Can’t Be By Myself
I’m at a pizza place by myself, sweating through my coffeeshop T-shirt and chewing on a slice of pepperoni. As I scroll through the contacts on my phone, my fingers leave greasy smudges on the screen. I call the leasing office at my apartment complex and, when a lady answers, I say: “Hi. So, erm, … Continue reading Why I Can’t Be By Myself
Jesus and the Single Girl
She’s wearing a ring. I just met her today at the coffeeshop and now we’re splitting Ben & Jerry’s in the Walmart parking lot. The Florida sun wages warfare on our shoulders. I point my plastic spoon at her wedding ring and say: “How do you do it?” “What do you mean?” she says. “How … Continue reading Jesus and the Single Girl
Jesus-sizing Coffee
“Twenty years and he wants a divorce.” I freeze. Soap bubbles still running on my hands. The lady leans across the coffee bar with sad, translucent eyes. Seconds ago, she was wincing about how we ran out of kombucha. Now she’s nodding her head, chin propped up by her hand, like, yes, so sad, but … Continue reading Jesus-sizing Coffee
Feeling Offended
I’m going to cry. I need to wait for it to be socially acceptable to leave the room first. Then I’m going to find myself a safe space and cry. Maybe in five minutes. I feel the cry perched in the roof of my mouth. I can summon it whenever. Just not now. Five minutes. … Continue reading Feeling Offended
