Personal Essays

The Sitcom Widow

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Sizing myself up to DJ Tanner, Carol Brady and Nancy Botwin

When Grandma Got Mean, I Got Angry

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When my spirited grandmother declined, then died, I was as pissed off as I was utterly bereft.

I’m Not Okay with Being a Motherless Mother

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Turns out, I'm not ok with being a motherless mother.

9 Funerals and a Wedding

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We had so much fun watching our wedding video, until we realized that so many of the people who toasted us that day are dead.

‘Daddy, Daddy, Where Are You?’

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After 9/11 my son asked for his father dozens of times a day, everyday — for nine years.

Cleanup in the Produce Aisle

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I was in Whole Foods when learned of my father's suicide. Going grocery shopping has never been the same.

Beyond Coincidence

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15 years after my father died suddenly, had he finally come to say goodbye?

Loss Squared In the City of Love

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After my mother's death, I departed for Paris with her ashes -- the same week of the tragic terror attacks.

Modern Loss Fathers Day

A Father’s Day Sale for the Recently Deceased Dad

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I keep getting emails from Bed Bath & Beyond reminding me that “It’s Not Too Late To Find the Perfect Father’s Day Gift!” But in this case, it kind of is.

Why I’m Jealous of Grieving People

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Dad died when I was 6, and life went on seemingly undeterred. All these years later, I find myself envious of those who have the chance to mourn.

Modern Loss Going Home

Going Home

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After my dad's death, now it just feels like a house.

Love, Dad

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On my 8th fatherless Father's Day, my dad found a way to send me a handwritten message from the grave.

Had I Sealed My Father’s Fate?

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I'm a novelist and killed off the father character early in my first book. When my dad died unexpectedly soon after, I was wracked with guilt.

Was My Dead Ex Talking to Me From Inside the TV?

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Was my dead ex talking to me from inside the TV?

Wishing My High School Classmate Had Made It to College

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I didn't actually share some deep emotional bond with my high school classmate that warranted being so broken up about her suicide. But I was anyway.

Life’s Too Short to Wear Beige

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I was a closeted gay woman surrounded by white-hued walls and yearning for my own colorful world. My sister's death changed everything.

Yes, You Should Binge-Watch Netflix Alone on Mother’s Day

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Cut yourself a break on Mother's Day — with or without a dead partner.

I Hate That Mother’s Day Rips Me Apart with Sadness and Guilt

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I know it's cliché, but the holiday still knocks me off my axis.

My Ectopic Pregnancy Nearly Killed Me

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I’d dreamed of having a baby since my mother died. Then my body betrayed me.

How To Bury a War

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It begins at a New Jersey diner, and ends as the last Holocaust survivor in our family was lowered into the ground.

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