Like a Butterfly
It is one o’clock in the morning when I leave The Rainbow Room. “Nothing good ever happens after one AM,” says my mother. I’ve been a...
Suzanne Weerts
by Suzanne Weerts
- Oct 20
Bonfire of the Vanities
What are our white brow secrets? Those seemingly superficial things we hide from the world and even from those close
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Sep 29
I Will Not Have A Slice
I did send a card, welcoming her to the family and wishing them happiness. And I meant it. But who was this woman he'd married?
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Sep 2
Sand Dollars And the Value in Letting Go
Setting your babies free is not easy like a day at the beach. When they’re little, splashing joyfully on the shoreline, not daring to go...
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Aug 11
Mistaken Identity
Willie Nelsen was recently named “American Indian of the Year” and his blood flowed with as much Cherokee as ours.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Jun 22
Thanks for Life, Mom
We pass out the last of the roses, one representing each of the babies needlessly murdered in the state of North Carolina that year.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Apr 28
A Body is Just a Body is Just a Body
“You deserve this Suzanne,” he whispers in my ear, “Relax.” The sound of the waves crashing against the cliff below the balcony where I...
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Apr 14
Sentry of the Sweets
My cousin Kathleen is getting married at the Boston Harbor Hotel. My family has never been to Boston. Mom starts looking for inexpensive...
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Mar 17
Blackberry Stains
I see her running across the expanse of our front lawn, which is only 20 yards but memory makes it 200 and it all feels like slow motion.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Nov 4, 2021
A Horse Walks Up To A Bar
Jane Goodall, the British primatologist who studied chimpanzees in Tanzania was feeding a horse at the counter in a cafe by my house.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Oct 7, 2021
The Not So Salad Days
I am standing in my father’s kitchen. It’s the kitchen of my childhood, though the lime green cabinets from the 70’s have been stripped...
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Jul 21, 2021
The Ticket
There I am in the United Airlines terminal when I realize: a ticket is not a plan. An airline ticket is not the golden ticket to success.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Apr 29, 2021
Lady In Red (Or rather, lady in a regrettably old, pilled, black sweater)
I didn’t know he’d been in the restroom building up his courage. I figured he was eating a hidden stash of beef jerky.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Jan 29, 2021
Whirlwind of Money
“Come on ladies! Don’t go! Take a chance! You could be winners!”
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Apr 2, 2020
COMMITMENT
Shane is a bad boy. I'm not supposed to associate with bad boys.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Mar 30, 2020
Padding the Nest
Our birds have flown home for the time being, their disappointment palpable, but they are counting on us for comfort and continuity.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Mar 5, 2020
The Sounds of Silence
When Rumi said, “Listen to silence. It has so much to say,” I’m guessing he didn’t have tinnitus.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Feb 20, 2020
Undercover
My understanding of the birds and the bees existed under a thick blanket of secrecy in the house of my childhood. When I was ten or so, I...
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Jan 23, 2020
Cleaning Up
My house is a mere shell of it’s happiest self now that the Christmas decorations are gone. Early in December each box I bring out of...
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Jan 9, 2020
I Don't Do Drugs
I am 100% certain I'm going to die in this shit-hole motel above a dive bar with the remnants of a pot-infused chocolate bar in my hand...
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Dec 19, 2019
White Elephant
Even if that Santa held no specific memories for me, he had once been held by my mother.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Nov 20, 2019
The Overshare
I got this voicemail from my dad. “Hi Suzanne, there’s this important Anniversary I need to tell you about, please call me back.”
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Nov 14, 2019
Silver Fish
Aunt Joanne’s stories were peppered with the names of famous people who’d graced her path and the fabulous places she’d been.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Oct 31, 2019
Murder House
When I am out watching the kids trick-or-treating in our neighborhood, I'll be on the lookout for the ghost of Mabel Monohan.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Oct 10, 2019
Moving Minus Emotion
“Mom,” he says, “I thought you’d be more emotional.”
“Well, I’m feeling pretty good about all this,” I reply, “My job is done."
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Aug 22, 2019
The Fax
My father has never been one for face-to-face communication, but he always did know how to make a statement.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Aug 18, 2019
Sand Castles and Reclaimed Kickboards
We attempted to surf the sand like Aladdin on magic carpets before taking our new kick-boards out to the foaming blue ocean.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Jul 18, 2019
The Gamble
My stomach turned as the wheel spun, the ball bouncing over blurred black and red numbers, this money he was risking was two month’s rent.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- May 30, 2019
Adventurous One, Who Might You Become?
Truth is, I wasn’t always the best mother. In some ways it is amazing he and I made it out alive.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- May 16, 2019
Motorcycle Diary
“God saved you once, I don’t know that you’ll get another chance.” But I let the screen door slam behind me, invincible.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Apr 25, 2019
In Naive Agreement
Mom loved the idea that, if I married Finn, I might not only get married in the Catholic church, but she’d also have Catholic grandchildren.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Mar 7, 2019
You Don't Bring Me Flowers
“If they don’t bring you flowers when you’re dating them, then they definitely won’t when you marry them."
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Feb 21, 2019
On Giving My Maxx
I’d never been fired before. I was a good student. I worked hard. And there I was, looking for a payphone under the Grand Opening sign.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Jan 31, 2019
America's Next Top Black and Decker Hand Model
With all that experience holding power tools, I never learned the cardinal rule to unplug them before touching their sharp mechanisms.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Oct 25, 2018
The Acorn Assassin
When I was eleven, I almost killed all of the children in my neighborhood.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Sep 20, 2018
Musings on Massages, Make-up and Manicures
“Why would you pay someone to clip your nails?” my mother questioned when I told her about my first manicure.
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by Suzanne Weerts (as shared at Story Salon on
- Aug 30, 2018
The Domino Effect
I literally missed the train by one croissant from the breakfast buffet stuffed in my purse, one glance back and a hand heart directed at...
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Jun 22, 2018
Guns and Gravel
Hidden in the drawer alongside spicy mothballs, my father had a gun! Was he a secret agent or something?
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by Suzanne Weerts
- May 27, 2018
The Unbearable Bear Paw Resort
I’ll go. To keep the peace, I’m going to go. But I am angry at the cavalier way the decision is handed down.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Apr 19, 2018
To Tattoo or Not To Tattoo? (That is the Question)
My daughter wants us to get matching tattoos. It is sweet, really, that a twenty year-old wants to have a body part that looks the same...
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Jan 26, 2018
Tom Girl
Every time I got up to bat, the coach would say, “Let it hit you!” so I could get on base before I struck out.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Dec 10, 2017
Counting Blessings: A Letter to My Mother
I taught myself to count my blessings as I drifted off to sleep, the way you counted yours even when your challenges seemed insurmountable.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Nov 30, 2017
Encyclopedia A's
The Encyclopedia salesmen all did something that forever changed the trajectory of my academic knowledge.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Oct 19, 2017
Little Miss Innocent Sugar Me
I wish I’d been able to crawl out of my skin and be anywhere but in that conference room.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Oct 19, 2017
Medicine Man
Amani, the medicine man’s home was part shack part tree house. He sat on a wooden rocking chair under a guava tree, clearly stoned.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Sep 28, 2017
Bye Bye Broadway
Chita Rivera was a fiery Latina woman and I was a freckle faced fourteen year-old fantasist who had yet to sing a single one of my songs.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Aug 28, 2017
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
Bill says every time her hears Roberta Flack on the radio his eyes well with tears as he remembers the girl in green at the dinner party.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Aug 3, 2017
T-Shirt
I can’t say that I fully appreciated the insanity of giving your daughter such a billboard to wear across her slowly developing chest.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Jun 22, 2017
Cotton Baller
Please choose me. Please choose me. PLEASE CHOOSE ME! I frantically screamed over and over in my head.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- May 18, 2017
Complexity
I quickly became quite the connoisseur, easily identifying the nuanced notes of difference between Tickle Pink and Sun Peach Pink...
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