Paved paradise
I didn’t want our first kiss to be in a parking lot. I told Rachel that at the end of our fourth date. She smiled and walked me back to the water’s edge where she kissed me gently. Her small rosebud lips explored my big Texas mouth. We kept hands back to our cars. I took a deep breath as I watched her open her car door, turn, and walk over to mine. I rolled down my window and she put her hand around my neck and gave me another deep, incomparable kiss – in the parking lot. — Mandelyn Cloninger
A little bit of everything
“I’m sorry I’m stupid,” my father mumbles. When he struggles to find a word or finish a sentence because of his dementia, he hides his embarrassment and frustration by making this heartbreaking statement. “Dad, you’re not stupid,” I answer automatically. To change the subject, I ask, “What did you do today?” Papa’s wicked sense of humor, one he inherited from his father, immediately generates an answer: “Oh, a little bit of everything, the easy tasks twice.” One day daddy will even forget his sense of humor, but for now we can happily laugh together. — Hollyahna Vettori
‘Warning to my eyes and smile’
Before I became a parent, I couldn’t imagine myself as a parent. I shied away from holding squirming babies. I didn’t know how to burp them or why they burp at all. When Niam was first born, I mourned my lost sense of freedom, my past life, body and identity. But when Niam awoke from the womb — alert to my eyes and smiling — I realized I had grown fond of the little fellow. In fact, I thought he was quite cute. In fact, I couldn’t stop kissing him. In fact, I was hopelessly in love with him. — Mansi Kothari
Fender Bender
As I looked the other way, I slammed into the back of her car. “How are you?” I asked. “Yeah, but I don’t know anything about my car,” she said without anger. “Are you OK?” Still in shock and concerned about liability, I saw the minor damage to both our cars, then the sunflower on her dress. She’s the type of person I could be friends with, I thought. I replied, “I’m fine.” With mutual relief, we hugged spontaneously and then went our separate ways. My bumper was bruised, but my faith in humanity was restored. — Carrie Klein
