The author — Photo by her patient husband, Andrew Our rented Buick rocked as the tractor trailers and rock haulers zipped past on the highway. I gripped the door handle, certain a homicidal maniac steered each truck rushing by, intent on racking up another victim on their way to the West Texas oil fields. We had selected the … Continue reading What Falls From the Sky Does Not Strike Me
Tag: This Happened To Me
A Bird in the Basket
Photo by Alvaro Daimiel on Unsplash I hadn’t planned on sharing the 650 square feet of space I called home. Andrew and I had reached the point in our dating life where he kept a spare toothbrush at my place and I had cleared out a shelf in my closet for him. I could barely fit … Continue reading A Bird in the Basket
Goodbye Old Friend
My new car is a spaceship. The dash has more buttons and dials than Doc’s DeLorean did in Back to the Future. It runs on premium gas, though, and not recycled garbage. My brand-new Honda Civic Sport Touring might be the last car I ever buy. “What are you going to name your new car?” Andrew … Continue reading Goodbye Old Friend
The Enchanted Rock and the Little Hill
Image by GeorgeB2 from Pixabay “We should visit Enchanted Rock,” Andrew suggested one evening, not long after we started dating. I pictured a place shrouded in a sparkling mist and peopled with tiny fairies peeking from behind evergreens. I worried whether the rock, enchanted or not, would provide shade. I’m a great fan of shade, especially … Continue reading The Enchanted Rock and the Little Hill
Lemur Island is a Lonely Island
But It’s a Lovely Place to Visit Photo by Amy Reed on Unsplash We arrived at the zoo in a car loaded with boxes of books and mismatched towels, two tennis rackets, and some stereo equipment. I’d been lured into the trip by Andrew, my boyfriend back then. I love the opportunity to view any animal … Continue reading Lemur Island is a Lonely Island
Love and Frozen Peas
Antique Shop Display — Photo by Terrye Turpin The truest test of whether someone will stick by you ‘in sickness and in health’ comes from the ordinary ills — the soggy discomfort of the common cold or the excess body fluids that accompany the flu. You’d have to be a complete troll to abandon the loved one who had cancer … Continue reading Love and Frozen Peas
A Pivot Toward Acceptance
Photo by Terrye Turpin In 1980, after my sophomore year in college at Texas Woman’s University, I waited for the letter that would lead to a pivot point in my life. Some months before, I had applied through the Baptist Student Union to be a summer missionary. I signed up, not out of deep religious conviction … Continue reading A Pivot Toward Acceptance
You Can Blame My Mother
Distrustful Cat wonders who is at the door — Photo by Terrye Turpin I’ve legally changed my name one time. When I married my first husband, I took his last name, and it has stuck through a divorce and a second marriage. Turpin is unusual enough, but my first name is the one that strikes fear in the … Continue reading You Can Blame My Mother
The Chicken Dance
Photo by Terrye Turpin I’d been sick with a cold, and in case I didn’t recover in time for the weekend, Andrew and I cancelled the camping trip we had planned. Back then we were still in the early stages of dating when broken plans required a spectacular replacement. He asked me what I wanted to … Continue reading The Chicken Dance
The God of Poop
The Dublin Bottling Works — Home of the original Dr. Pepper and definitely not a clear liquid. (Photo by Terrye Turpin)At my last physical my doctor mentioned it had been five years since I had a colonoscopy. “That long, huh? Gee doc, the whole experience was so pleasant it seems like only yesterday.” Every time I light a … Continue reading The God of Poop
Let's Get Out of Here 