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by Suzanne Weerts

Aug 20, 2015

Dust in the Wind

I grabbed a knife from the butcher’s block, cut the gold seal and opened the box.

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by Suzanne Weerts

Feb 11

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

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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Sand Dollars And the Value in Letting Go

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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Lady In Red (Or rather, lady in a regrettably old, pilled, black sweater)

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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America's Next Top Black and Decker Hand Model

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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Musings on Massages, Make-up and Manicures

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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To Tattoo or Not To Tattoo?
(That is the Question)

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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Counting Blessings: A Letter to My Mother

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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Suzanne Weerts

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