
Roots + Wings
“There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots, the other, wings.” -Hodding Carter
He knows (as do we) that it’s all in the daughter’s best interest, but the entire purpose of parents, to prepare our kids to go out into the world, unfolds painfully because “[i]t is with our skill we live in what kills us.”

My Own Dutch House
Nestled in a narrow alleyway amongst twisty-turny streets, the Ferguson Street house has long captured my imagination. When I was small, I reveled in discovering its secrets: a dark basement with tapered stairs lined with jars of canned goods, culminating in an honest-to-God black cauldron used for apple butter and sauce; a seldom-used parlor with two vintage organs, imposing as dark sentinels in their watchfulness over the space; a converted attic where my great-uncle slept, a place I was granted access to only once in my life.