Man like Us
There is a man walking so slowly up the park path. He pauses near a bench. He’s wearing black sweats over a button-up white shirt. He pauses to watch a […]
Category Archives: Notes from a Part-Time Social Worker
Leaving Sheila
Sheila had dementia. Bob was her husband, and I was their social-worker, so when the phone rang and Bob said, “I was tucking Sheila into bed last night and she asked […]
These Days Will Come
It takes nine quarters to do a load of her laundry, the older woman whom I have helped every week for a year-and-a-half. Today, I’m worried that I might have to […]
This is Confidence
Mount Vernon, WA – When I travel alone, I stay in KOA Campgrounds. With anyone else I camp in the woods. My own degrees of safety hold that alone is […]
The Tent, the Pit-Bull and a Brown Mini-Van
Pacific Northwest, WA — I picked up the phone on a Wednesday morning, finished my coffee and hoped for a walk-in-the-park day. It was my job to answer the phone […]
Are you Caucasian?
A phone call from Mount Vernon, WA to Denver, CO — “Hey Jill, can I ask you a question?” my neighbor girl asked over the phone. She was picking the […]
Order in the Court
Altamont, TN – If I was to learn rural Tennessee, I had to understand the people. My cousin, who sometimes mediates in the courts, offered to let me shadow him for […]
Sex, Drugs & Rocking Chairs
Denver, CO — What do you say when a 90-year old woman tells you she will give you her bras? They just don’t fit any more. When you get old, your […]
The Man Who Was Ahi
Denver, CO — I had no idea how the stroke survivor group would turn out. Every week is different. One time I asked what was new in the last week […]
What to Expect When You’re not Expecting
Denver, CO — I may have killed my mother, my kombucha mother that is. As I left town, my friend gifted me a honey jar with a little starter juice […]
