My Father Said I Was An Accident At A Family Barbecue Until I Responded

cousin Linda mentioned politics. He said it to me when I told him I had been accepted into the nursing program at State.

“Nursing,” he said. “Emptying bedpans. Great career for a girl, I guess.”

My mother never argued. When his voice rose, she would go still in a specific way, shoulders pulling inward, hands folding in her lap, eyes dropping to the tablecloth,continue reading …