Let’s talk about my cavity: Distal pit 14. I had misheard and thought it was distal pit 30, or dirty 30 as I told myself to remember, but no. I was remembering incorrectly this entire time. Distal refers to the fact that it's distally located (away from the tooth’s face.) Anyway, I was paying more... Continue Reading →

It’s a warm day at Dodge Ridge Ski Resort. Our plan is to take ski lift six up the mountain and ride Clementine, the longest and easiest run. The cousins want to ride the lift together, but I convince everybody a parent/kid combo is best at first.  The chain clicks towards us as I hustle... Continue Reading →

Dalton’s waving at me like I’m a pilot and he’s on a runway, except I’m a driver and this is Jiffy Lube. He’s motioning with both arms for me to drive over the black pit. Clearly, he can’t see my blood pressure rising. Usually, I park and get out and they take care of the... Continue Reading →

Sometimes I find words I discarded so long ago I wonder how they lasted.  I discard. Disagree. Find fault with aspects of me Turn pieces into a whole And wonder if that popping sound is real. It’s a new attempt at living and it comes with many breaks It’s a new attempt at living that... Continue Reading →

“Just like the pomegranate, we are undeniably complicated yet irresistibly juicy.” -F.B. I began my academic journey at CSU Channel Islands in the summer of 2008. This experience began with orientation and ended with the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) Summer Bridge program. EOP Summer Bridge is designed to support first-generation college students as they acclimate... Continue Reading →

I met Franchesca Brown in June of 2008. I remember her hand more than anything, five fingers pumping into the air like an invisible person kept slapping her high five. It was in response to a question I had asked not seconds before, a leading question where I knew I’d be looking out over a... Continue Reading →

Disclaimer: All names have been changed to protect the innocent from my mind. I wish my daughter would run out of her classroom and up the cement path, or fly. I wish she could fly from her school to my arms. I want to bypass the awkward waiting with adults that I only vaguely recognize... Continue Reading →

Allow me to indulge in a pomegranate comparison. Like juicy pieces clinging to the sides of compartments, we come together as a whole sphere, dangling on the branch, eventually falling from our weight. We’ll hit the ground and burst into scattered seeds. The seeds are the stories that form our lives, spreading feelings above all... Continue Reading →

https://youtu.be/EadCZ0VyDkE I had the most amazing dream last night. I was on CSUN’s campus and Bette Midler was going to perform. She happened to be walking across the quad, the same grass lawn where my mom took me to hear President Clinton speak in 1995. When Bette walked by, a group of Latinx teenagers had... Continue Reading →

I’m trying to find the dill and sea salt Triscuits when I hear the light crash of two grocery carts behind me. The man’s cane dangles on the handle, swaying from the collision. He looks a solid eighty-six. The young woman he’s hit doesn’t look a day over seventy-nine. She has a bounce in her... Continue Reading →