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COVID Killed My Dad, and I Can’t Even Cry about It.
On May 23rd, 2020, I got a call from a 919 area code that I didn’t have in my contacts. I was sitting on a patio with some friends, and I’d’ve usually ignored it, but that day, something was just different. “Hello?” “Is this Jennifer?” an urgent-sounding female voice asked me. “Yes, ma’am? This is she?” I asked, my confusion sounding like an identity crisis. Rustling sounds pierced the line and then a man’s voice came on. I didn’t recognize it at all, and the gasping, horror-movie raspiness of it scared me. By now, I’m pacing a downtown Memphis alleyway straining to understand what’s happening through a phone whose speaker…
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Getting Out: Reclaiming Your Turf after Abuse
Reclaiming your favorite restaurants. That song you both loved. The gym where you worked out together. Your people. It can be more than your heart (and overthinking head) can take. Too bad you can’t hide in bed and avoid the ghosts of your once-happiness… Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. And you’ve got bills to pay. Reclaiming your personal space after the end of an abusive relationship can be challenging, but it’s totally manageable. Reclaiming the rest of the world, however, might feel downright impossible. Don’t be discouraged, though. Take a deep breath. Stop shaking. Unclench your jaw. (Your dentist is going to be pissed about that later, too.) Pull your…
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When it rains…
Lawdy. Let it stop raining. Please. Memphis can’t catch a break. The rivers are cresting. The roads are falling apart (again). Rain for days on end now. Actual footage and memes galore in tribute. When it rains around here though, Memphis goes sideways. Legit. When it rains here, it gets weird. People lose their minds. They lose their ability to operate motor vehicles, which, admittedly, is only sketchy at best in good weather. (Hint: Stop braking for quite literally no reason whatsoever.) We all get mopey and pissed off. Unless you’re that one guy who’s just gleeful and loves jumping in potholes-turned-swimming-pools, it’s chaos. Rain downtown is a special kind…
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Ah, Valentine’s Day…
If you’re like me, you’re probably none-too-pleased for Valentine’s Day to be upon us. Don’t get me wrong, I WANT to like it, but it doesn’t seem to want to like me. In preparation for the dreaded event, I thought maybe I’d offer a few ways to survive it when you’d rather crawl under a rock — and secretly hope it crushes you. But, Kid… it’s a manufactured holiday driven by consumerism. I get that. I’m not looking to rack up material things as “proof” that someone loves me. Even worse, I don’t like the pressure society puts on guys to get it right or end up some failure in…
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Back on the wagon…
So, real talk. I had big plans, and then fell off the bloggin’ wagon. I took walking-around pics for weeks thinking I’d make time to share. It’d be therapy, I told myself. But then my life got pretty awesome last fall and I was just all blissed out and distracted and didn’t “need” the therapy, and then, as it does, life just kinda went sideways last winter, and that turned into actual therapy. Honestly, it’s still pretty sideways, if not completely in a ditch upside on its crumbled roof. I don’t really know what to think most days. Even the good days leave me confused. Really does make my head…
