Red's Wrap
Happiness. It's relative.
Tag: friendship
Book Mark
When my friends’ son died by suicide, I bought them a book. I can remember standing in a bookstore near the San Diego harbor, pulling book after book off the shelf, looking for just the right one that would speak to my friends’ terrible… Continue Reading “Book Mark”
She Was….A Hope Dealer
A year ago, a friend of mine died. We’d been colleagues for a long time. But, for much of that time, we were very wary of each other. I thought she was too sincere for deal-making and she thought I was a conniver. She… Continue Reading “She Was….A Hope Dealer”
Finery
I have a friend who, in the face of recurring cancer, throws a Kentucky Derby party. And she won’t let you in the door unless you’re wearing a hat. And she expects you to bring a dish which you will describe to the other… Continue Reading “Finery”
So Many Candles
I had a friend who was a priest when he was young. He almost never talked about having been a priest. When I met him, he had a wife and three sons. He didn’t seem the least bit holy, not like some people who… Continue Reading “So Many Candles”
Race Day
I still have the shirt, bright pink with Danskin 2007 Women’s Triathlon on the front and a slew of company logos on the back. My friend, Karen, has probably tossed hers, that’s how she is, totally unsentimental, not into mementos or false glory. After… Continue Reading “Race Day”
Book Mark
When my friends’ son died by suicide, I bought them a book. I can remember standing in a bookstore near the San Diego harbor, pulling book after book off the shelf, looking for just the right one that would speak to my friends’ terrible… Continue Reading “Book Mark”
Correspondence
I’m going to write my friend a letterOn paper, with inkIndelible which means It could last foreverFolded in thirds and stored in the pages of a favorite bookHe might show his children my letter I’ll tell him how I’m feelingIn ways that will stand… Continue Reading “Correspondence”
Sallie’s Funeral
I went to Sallie’s funeral today. It was in a very old Episcopal church downtown, the kind where you need to leave your coat on because the heat, what there is of it, will rise to the very top of the vaulted ceiling and… Continue Reading “Sallie’s Funeral”
New Girl Aboard
Two nights ago I had a dream about being on a ship that was sinking. I was in the ship’s movie theater, sitting in a velvet seat, watching I don’t remember what, and the ship’s sirens went off (I’ve never heard a ship’s sirens… Continue Reading “New Girl Aboard”
The Tiny Bird in the Bush
To get out of the sun while waiting for my husband to buy our baseball tickets, I sit on the curb in the shade of a very large bush. The Arizona sun is glaring and hot, even this early in the spring, and, after… Continue Reading “The Tiny Bird in the Bush”
Listen to Jan read her essay “Billy” presented on WUWM’s Lake Effect.
Jan’s essay “At the Breakfast Bar” on WUWM Lake Effect
Jan’s essay “The Parish Hall,” on WUWM Lake Effect May 27, 2020
“Fury Cannot Touch Me,” Modern Love, NYT, 9/29/11
