Author: jywatkins
-
Going Forward
I walked out of class and felt a little tug at my heart. As I followed the winding sidewalk from the School of Communication and Information past the library, I saw students through the windows tucked into comfy chairs or sitting at long tables, ear buds in, pencils to paper. It was nearing nine o’clock,…
-
Marriage: An Exercise in Intention
Chad and I have made it through another year of marriage. Today is our seventh anniversary. Many things have changed this year and, as always, many things have stayed the same. I started a new job, I started grad school, I started writing a book. All of these things came after our conversation on our sixth…
-
The Center of My Childhood
I grew up in a small town in rural New Jersey. For those not from the Garden State, the words “New Jersey” might conjure up images of shopping malls and freeways, concrete and traffic. There are parts of the state like that, for sure. But that’s not where I grew up. I grew up in a…
-
From Scratch
It’s bushel after bushel of bright red plum tomatoes, varying in their hues and firmness: some squishy on one side, others dense at the core; deep scarlet like a seductive lipstick or orange-red like a dimming evening sky. It’s three baths placed side by side, each with the lukewarm water that will wash the fruit clean,…
-
They Fit
From across the table, I caught a moment between them. He scooped a heaping forkful of food and reached over to put it on her plate. They each tasted it and decided it was indeed very good corned beef hash. After thirty-two years of marriage, it’s these little things that I think they enjoy most about…
-
En Silence
“But after years of practice she now prays as naturally as she breathes. Silently or aloud. From awakening to bedtime. In the cloister and in the hospital. Prayer slakes her thirst for the absolute. Prayer makes her heart rejoice.” – exhibit description of a nun’s life in the Monastère des Augustins. There is no TV…
-
Come Right In, We’re Out Back
Once our first few friends arrived, I grabbed one of my chalkboard signs, scrawled the words, “Come Right In, We’re Out Back,” and set the sign on the front porch Then we all grabbed a beer or a glass of wine and went to sit under the big white tarp my husband strung up over the…
-
Sunshine Too Bright
The very first time I got on an airplane, I flew from Newark Liberty Airport to Nice Côte d’Azur Airport in the south of France. The runways are as close to the Mediterranean Sea as an airplane should get. The skies are clear blue, the air is warm, and the water glistens. It is the Azure…
jamie y. watkins 