Sitting out the anthem
Reading Time: 2 minutes Her name was Ann, that much I remember for sure. Or Monica. We were both in fourth grade when she informed our teacher that she would not be saying the Pledge of Allegiance. She explained in a quiet, confident voice that she was a Jehovah’s Witness, and as such was not to pledge an oath to anyone or anything but God. Never mind that she was essentially abandoning one set…
Of curious women and dead cats
Reading Time: 6 minutes OnlySky · Episode 8 of the Raising Freethinkers podcast Search not to find what lies too deeply…
Will I go gentle?
Reading Time: 9 minutes OnlySky · Will I go gentle? | Dale McGowan If you haven’t visited The Death Clock, you…
When mind and music fall apart
Reading Time: 8 minutes My mom is slipping away. I don’t mean she’s dying, although she’s doing that too, gradually. But…
Death and the absent dancers
Reading Time: 5 minutes Fifteen years ago today, Reverend Jerry Falwell, Sr. went to his reward. Many of those who did…
Finding Nemo, belly up
Reading Time: 3 minutes There’ve been three deaths in our immediate family in the past 48 hours. Wait, lemme go downstairs…
What if she comes anyway?
Reading Time: 3 minutes Her name was first spoken in hushed tones among children all over America [over] twenty years ago.…
There’s no such thing as routine surgery, except yes there is
Reading Time: 3 minutes On a March Wednesday in 1653, a 20-year-old Londoner named Sam Pepys lay spreadeagled, four limbs tied…
Solving the musical mystery of my life
Reading Time: 3 minutes Ever since I was a wee babe, one song always made me spontaneously burst into tears: “Wiegenlied,”…
My big fat Christian wedding
Reading Time: 3 minutes If major religious differences doom a marriage, mine should have been toe-tagged at the altar. Our religious…
