Issue #4 – Page 3 – PLEASE SEE ME

Whiteboards and Courage—Beth Burgmeyer

Nonfiction Issue #4: Hope March 31st, 2020 March 31st, 2020 Whiteboards and Courage by Beth Burgmeyer he house that love built.” I remember the slogan, but never really knew what a Ronald McDonald House was. Until now. Until tragedy brings me to the house in Iowa City. From the moment I walk through the doors after four days of hell—and however many more are to come—I feel that love, that grace. The house manager takes me on ...

Comorbidity—Todd Richardson

Nonfiction Issue #4: Hope March 31st, 2020 March 31st, 2020 Comorbidity by Todd Richardson y brother’s skin felt like a lukewarm dish towel as I held him against the wall. It took two palms pressed into his chest to keep him from bouncing all over his bedroom. I was 17. My brother, two years older, had been diagnosed with schizophrenia a few years before. We were friends once—backyard brothers pretending to be Huck Finn and Tom ...

Because of Ryan—Wendy Kennar

Nonfiction Issue #4: Hope March 31st, 2020 March 31st, 2020 Because of Ryan by Wendy Kennar everal years ago, a physical therapist told me to never fully give in to the pain. To never just spend the day in bed. “Not possible,” I said. “I have a five-year-old son. Staying in bed all day simply isn’t an option.” I live with an invisible disability, a rare autoimmune disease called Undifferentiated Connective Tissue Disease (UCTD). My rheumatologist described it ...

Boobs and Bones—Frances Park

Nonfiction Issue #4: Hope March 31st, 2020 March 31st, 2020 Boobs and Bones by Frances Park ehind the front desk, the staff, a youngish flock, flits about. In the waiting room, older women somberly scroll through cell phones. Well, we’re not here to have fun, folks, we’re about as thrilled as growing gray. Get in, get out, get on with our lives. I’m asked to sign in, which I do with a wobbly scrawl. Why can’t ...

Dancing in the Dark—Susan Sparrow

Nonfiction Issue #4: Hope March 31st, 2020 March 31st, 2020 Dancing in the Dark by Susan Sparrow ango lessons tonight?” I wiggle my eyebrows at Greg, laying on a thick Spanish accent. “Do you want to dance the forbidden dance of love?” “Oh, jeez! You’re serious? If you want, I guess.” He’s not enthusiastic, but then I hadn’t expected him to share my dream of one day dancing tango in an Argentinian milonga. A few years before, ...

Learning to See with Grandpa—Rosemary Gemmell

Nonfiction Issue #4: Hope March 31st, 2020 March 31st, 2020 Learning to See with Grandpa by Rosemary Gemmell randpa McNeill was unlike all the other grandfathers in our town on the west coast of Scotland. My grandpa was blind. We knew Grandpa was blinded after an accident when he worked on the railways long ago, and that he walked with a white stick. But it didn’t seem to hold him back and he was always cheerful. Besides, ...

An Experimental Cure for Sorrow—Laura Sergeant

Nonfiction Issue #4: Hope March 31st, 2020 March 31st, 2020 An Experimental Cure for Sorrow by Laura Sergeant drive the dimpled rental car, a white fleck against the black ribbon of asphalt that mimics the sky; the highway is diamond-crusted sparkle, sullen charcoal or spilled ink, not unlike my mood. Clouds hang like raw wool: puffy unfinished edges. They arise without origin and move rapaciously. On the horizon, I spy sunlight leaking onto periwinkle folds of ...

Monkey’s Love—Sandi Parsons

Nonfiction Issue #4: Hope March 31st, 2020 March 31st, 2020 Monkey’s Love by Sandi Parsons onkey was nearly born into my hands; her mum, Scruffy, was a rescue dog with huge trust issues. Repeatedly I had been warned that she would go away to birth her pups. Instead, Scruffy jumped into bed with me, nudging me with her nose until I woke. My eyes opened in time to see the first pup born. I held the ...

Dying Under an Overpass—Paul Rouseau

Nonfiction Issue #4: Hope March 31st, 2020 March 31st, 2020 Dying Under an Overpass by Paul Rousseau t’s a late October afternoon, the sun plunging towards twilight. Earl’s tucked up under an overpass on Interstate 10. I’m his doctor doing a first “home” visit. He’s wrapped from the autumn chill by an old overcoat and a tattered blanket. A small barbeque grill glows with warmth. A plastic bottle, a cardboard box, and a roll of toilet ...

Vanishing Point—Art Hanlon

Nonfiction Issue #4: Hope March 31st, 2020 March 31st, 2020 Vanishing Point by Art Hanlon here is something I am compelled to tell you. I think you would like to know. Maybe not. I’m driving my wife, Mary Ann, from our home on Bainbridge Island to the Kaiser Permanente clinic in Bellevue, Washington, for a routine procedure. A trip off-island by ferry to Seattle, then a 10-mile drive to Bellevue. As we get on the ferry, I’m ...