I got a new computer to replace the Pentium II I bought in 1998, which was slowly cannibalizing itself. I also bought a peripheral or two. I now have a working CD burner, a working floppy disk drive, and a...
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My mom bought a baby book for me when I was little. Its chapters were broken down by developmental stages and included numerous questions about things a child might be doing in each stage: Does she eat solid foods? Does...
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I worked at a YMCA camp for many years. When parents signed their kid up for camp, they received an informational packet and some forms. The informational packet included some tips on how to make sure children came home with...
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My hair is getting out of control. It's way too long for this cut, largely because it's short and layered, but I haven't been to see Grace in nearly eight weeks. The last time it got this way, a friend...
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Some songs—like the one I'm listening to now, for example—make me want to tap dance. However, as I say that, I feel like I should acknowledge that I'm really more about the theory of tap dancing than the actual practice...
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When I was in high school—and when I was home on breaks from college—I worked part-time as a clerk in a family-owned video store called Best Video. Only a few of us worked there, and we all knew the customer...
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I was born in Petaluma, California, in a hospital that I've been told is no longer a hospital. My doctor was Dr. West, and what I remember about him from when I was very little was that he was gentle...
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Me with my friend M. before prom, spring 1989: '80s hair still amazes me. I think it's because so many of us had parents and teachers who thought for a time that the best possible thing we could do was...
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Tara heated the stones. She built an enormous fire on the beach, and she placed rocks around the coals. She added wood when the fire began to die down. We could not help her, because we were working, so she...
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In high school, I had a teacher named Mr. Vandeboe. He taught English and humanities, and he was about the coolest teacher any of us could imagine having. When we learned about ancient western culture, he showed slides of his...
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When I was in elementary school and still lived in Texas, there were two boys in my class named Scott and Mark. They were twins, and they were good-looking in a "we may be only 8, but we're cocky punks"...
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We used to go to Yosemite every summer when I was a kid. We always stayed in the campgrounds. At night, my little brother and I—and my older brother too, if he had come with us—would take out our flashlights...
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My family and I left Texas and came back to live in Northern California for a couple of years. I don't remember anything particularly spiritual about that period. What I remember about sixth grade is that I developed an excellent...
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I don't remember losing my faith, and I wonder sometimes if that means I never had any. I've read the accounts of people like Mary McCarthy, who remembered exactly what it felt like. She smoothed out the gaps that time...
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I just found a Post-It note my grandfather wrote about his father: "Born Turku (Abo) Sept. 12, 1886, Finland. Left Hamburg, Germany Nov. arrived San Francisco March 23, 1910 on Finn. sailing ship Marie Cheau. Sailed around the Horn. Killed...
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My grandfather compiled a little genealogical packet and gave it to some of us at Christmas. It included some color copies of photos. This is my great grandmother, Alma. She came to the United States from Finland in 1905, when...
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I wish I still had a dress like that....
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There's a kind of euphoria in staying up ridiculously late, I think. I even did it as a child over summer breaks. I remember being 10 or 11, snuggling in my bed to read books until dawn. If I never...
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