Tag: relationships
Posted on January 29, 2019
by Jan Wilberg
2 Comments
Your kids go back to the places you took them years ago but the places aren’t as special as they remember. They’re worn out, faded, smaller than their recollections and they are disappointed. You’re not surprised. No place keeps the glow it had when… Continue Reading “A Handful of Lemons: Seven Things I’ve Learned So Far in 2019”
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Posted on September 19, 2015
by Jan Wilberg
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When our dog Minnie has a seizure, she struggles to stay standing but her back legs give way, then her front legs splay and also give way until she is lying on the floor like she is grabbing the carpet to keep from falling.… Continue Reading “Pet Lessons”
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Posted on February 11, 2015
by Jan Wilberg
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When my husband is gone I sleep on his side of the bed Further from the door As if the extra distance would Deter an intruder’s violence More than the baseball bat Tucked behind the radiator That my husband believes will Fend off a… Continue Reading “Bedtime”
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Posted on January 19, 2015
by Jan Wilberg
6 Comments
So much for making a lifetime commitment based on how a guy looks in jeans. The 36 Questions hubbub is making me wonder how I could have been so shallow as if a single garment should have such predictive value. Worse is that jeans… Continue Reading “How Do People Fall in Love?”
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Posted on September 29, 2014
by Jan Wilberg
20 Comments
It took only two days to know it was a mistake. It takes years for some people. And then the realization comes only after much analysis and backtracking, bundles of tapes that get spliced and replayed until the boredom of it all chases one… Continue Reading “Two Days Married”
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Posted on July 24, 2014
by Jan Wilberg
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“Who are you? What are you doing here?” “I’m looking after Bob. Who are you? “I’m Bob’s wife. Bob’s my husband. Why are you here in the ICU? Who let you in?” “Bob did, honey. I met him in the elevator last week and… Continue Reading “Replacement Parts”
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Posted on July 22, 2014
by Jan Wilberg
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“She has the face of a goat.” “Isn’t that a little unkind? You know, she has a quite beautiful spirit.” “Just make sure she wears a turtleneck and a very large hat if you ever take her anywhere important. Maybe a scarf. That is,… Continue Reading “What Mother Thinks”
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Posted on July 19, 2014
by Jan Wilberg
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Tap, tap, tap. I pull the blanket tighter around my shoulders. Tap, tap, tap. The house is silent now, the whispered screaming over. Tap, tap, tap. He’s sorry now that he scared me. Tap, tap, tap. Do the downstairs neighbors know that he is lying… Continue Reading “Tap, Tap, Tap”
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Posted on July 14, 2014
by Jan Wilberg
7 Comments
An essay I wrote about a former lover is being published in an anthology called Precipice. In the essay, I use the person’s actual first name because, when I wrote it, no other name seemed a good substitute. And the story I told isn’t… Continue Reading “What’s Fair Game?”
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Posted on July 12, 2014
by Jan Wilberg
4 Comments
Interpersonal warfare has many dimensions. In the giant storeroom of weapons and strategies, next to the M16’s and poison arrows, is the rebuked apology. This is the scalpel of conflict, the slitting of the aorta, the permanent solution. There is no coming back from… Continue Reading “The Rebuked Apology”
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