Archive - If You Lived Here

Honoring Our Ghosts

Death is like painting rather than like sculpture, because it’s seen from only one side.

Dec 16, 2022 •

October 2022

Repeat as Necessary

Over the winter break, the teachers union and the city of Chicago fail and fail again to reach an agreement over Covid protections during the Omicron…

Oct 13, 2022 •

August 2022

The Light of this Hour

With travels and full-time parenting during the summer months, I’ve taken an unintentional hiatus from my notebooks, not to mention the cursor I can…

Aug 8, 2022 •

May 2022

Little Engines of Connection

The name of the title is first to go / followed obediently by the title, the plot, / the heartbreaking conclusion, the entire novel / which suddenly…

May 23, 2022 •

March 2022

All the Days of Your Life

This dispatch is longer and took a little more time than I’d hoped, thanks in part to an icy path that honored me with a mild concussion. I’m okay now…

Mar 25, 2022 •

February 2022

One of Seven Hundred

I was nearly finished with high school when I first imagined I could be a writer.

Feb 19, 2022 •

Like the Beam of a Lightless Star

Every year without knowing it / I have passed the day / When the last fires will wave to me / And the silence will set out / Tireless traveler / Like…

Feb 2, 2022 •

January 2022

I'm So Glad You're Here

As we stand, slouch, or slump at the beginning of 2022, I invite you to take a moment to look back and recognize those events, big and small, that have…

Jan 4, 2022 •

December 2021

Who We Used to Be

Our psychology teacher, Mrs.

Dec 14, 2021 •

November 2021

The Year of Lists

Like anyone who has lost a partner, I faced a rather tedious and seemingly endless series of tasks.

Nov 4, 2021 •

October 2021

Translations in Water

The ocean was unusually clear during our visit to the Outer Banks, so I traded my sunglasses for my daughter’s snorkel mask and searched the water for…

Oct 14, 2021 •

September 2021

Everyone You Know

In the small diary where we took turns writing a few sentences after our children were born, Valerie often mentions the little benchmarks.

Sep 20, 2021 •

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