Under The Influence
As far back as I can remember, I had one very specific goal: True love’s first kiss.
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Suzanne Weerts
by Suzanne Weerts
- Sep 13
TWELVE STEPS
“So, girls, how did it go?” she asked.
“Well, we learned a lot,” we said. And that was the truth.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Sep 5
Pain and Novocaine
Our scars are songs written on our skin, singing their mournful or joyous melodies through their lingering marks.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Aug 15
Spin The Bottle
This was where you decided if you were going to be a Sandy or a Rizzo.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Jul 18
Golden Girl
I sit in the lawn chair in the sunniest part of our yard and wait for my metamorphosis to begin.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- May 16
Three Minutes
I began smelling something rancid. I thought it was in the kitchen and checked under the sink, but it was also in my bedroom and the hall.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- May 2
Wonder
Those make-goods made for cheap fun. This make-good is going to cost me.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Apr 4
Float
It turned out, covering a 10-foot jaguar took a lot more paper squares than we thought and we’d have to work through the night.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Mar 28
Fat Looks Better When It's Tan
I start watching what I eat. Mom seems happy that I appear to be jumping aboard the carrot and celery train.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Jan 25
Pet Cemetery
A pet rabbit can live for eight to twelve years. The lifespan of cognizant childhood is far shorter.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Oct 26, 2023
Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes
I just never expected to be contemplating dropping out to sail to Jamaica with a possible drug smuggler.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Sep 21, 2023
Semper Paratus Pull-Up
Life took over and I kind of forgot about the emergency bag…until there was an emergency.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Aug 10, 2023
The Magic Room
The magic has occurred in our guest bathroom.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Jul 20, 2023
The Room of Requirement
I am erasing part of his story. Or at least I am editing it.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Jun 8, 2023
One Night Stand
My one-piece white jumpsuit with beaded shoulders is its own sad story of a fashion misstep that lives on as a two part mistake.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- May 25, 2023
A Stitch In Time
I am a fraud...My sash is heavy. It jingles with dozens of safety pins, including the pinned on patch I’d received for sewing.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- May 4, 2023
Hard Drive
Anyone in Los Angeles with a talent and a desire to be on TV? That is only half the population! And they are calling ME?
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Apr 6, 2023
Saving Pink Bear
No way!” Maddie says defiantly. My 4-foot ballerina clutches her bear tightly,lip quivering in her first deliberate stand against authority.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Feb 11, 2023
The Score
I was born while my father was 100 feet under the North Atlantic in a Polaris submarine. He was honorably discharged from the Navy when I...
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Jan 19, 2023
Itch
I’d briefly forget my agony until I realized my family may no longer be worried about my well-being at which point, I’d begin another tortur
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Dec 8, 2022
You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling
I feigned appreciation as my heart sank. My dream was Dan. His gift didn’t mirror of my feelings. This was not Wordsworth, Neruda or Keats.
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Nov 3, 2022
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...
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by Suzanne Weerts
- Oct 20, 2022
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, 2022
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, 2022
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, 2022
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, 2022
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, 2022
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, 2022
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, 2022
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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