Over the holidays, I got to know the “Picnic League,” Josh’s friends from high school who’d been known to enjoy cold beers and a nice summer spread near the Minneapolis lakes. Five of the guys had been friends since they were grubby little boys, and over the years, they’d pulled in [...]
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Life was humming right along in December 2006. I was spending a lot of quality time with my girlfriends, staying at Josh’s condo in Minneapolis a couple times a week, and enjoying a cushy living arrangement in my parents’ basement. Just when I was finally feeling stable, one of my closest friends took a crushing blow. [...] Mom and I filed into the theater, surrounded by shorties dressed to the nines in velvet, tartan, and patent leather. We were, quite possibly, the only unaccompanied adults at the Children’s Theatre Company’s production of Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Mom and I are both suckers for anything Christmas-related, and when she offered [...] It was the traditional day of thanks, and due to its heavily programmed nature, I drove solo to our family gathering. Tooling through the northern suburbs of Minneapolis, I listened to Lynne Rossetto Kasper dole out last-minute advice to bumbling stuffers of birds in their moments of desperation. It was the first holiday since my [...] “Oh, shit,” I thought, as I read the latest e-mail from Josh. My friend-turned-love-interest wasn’t feeling well, and he didn’t think it was a good idea to get together that night after all. So although he didn’t pick up the phone, he essentially called in sick for our first official date. I’d waited a week [...] After a long day of work—oh, and getting divorced—I walked into Julie and Jodi’s house entirely spent. Spent and humbled. Make that spent, humbled, and relieved. But, I soon realized that I had come to the perfect place to let my roller-coaster feelings come to a complete stop. I was greeted at the door by [...] The day after my nephew was born, I hit the road for Illinois bright and early, parents and pup in tow. It was Friday morning, and we had 48 hours to orchestrate a highly profitable garage sale, box up all my worldly belongings, clean the shit out of the house, and pack up a U-Haul [...] I love a good road trip as much as the next person, and once I hit a good rhythm of miles and music, I can drive and drive and drive. But, as a woman who can’t relate to people who “forget” to eat for long stretches of time, I eventually must stop to refuel myself. [...] Coming home to Minnesota after leaving my husband was comfort, sweet comfort. I’d wanted to come home for years, but my own drive and stubbornness kept me from admitting this to myself or anyone else. Especially my mother. Now, I felt heart-wrenching gratitude for the simple things of home: Corn, cows, country roads, and the [...] It had been almost a month since I left John, and I was experiencing renewed attachment to Minnesota. For the past seven years, I had been only an occasional visitor to my home state, residing in zip codes ranging from 20009, to 01060, to 60618. I had lived in an astonishing ten apartments (ten!) since [...] |
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