Personal Note: I wrote The Mercy because what I believed only happened in other families—bad families with serious problems—happened in our family. I didn’t want to write a professional article or another non-fiction book. I wanted to share what it feels like. Maybe through this story one person will …
The Opposite of Love is Using People How Far Would You Go to Be a Winner? One of the Envied People? **This entry was difficult for me to write. The story is true and disturbing. At least I was disturbed. I don’t know that readers who have grown up blasted …
You Need a License to Eat Here? MysteryShrink Mexico Short Sonia, a new university friend, and I settled into a high-backed, carved wooden booth at the Gran Ancira Hotel Bar. Monterrey, Mexico, was the first night on our Freedom Trip adventure. The day before Sonia had pulled her application with …
MysteryShrink Shorts Overdosing on Back Braces “Good afternoon,” I said from the podium a couple of days ago. “My name is Barbara and I’m a back-brace addict.” I didn’t start out as an all-out back brace fiend. Neither of my parents had an unhealthy attachment to medical devices—though my brother, …
“Me Too” and the Greater Truth First, what happened: The first time I was fourteen and working at a dry cleaning pick-up station inside a megastore. I noticed that the forty-some owner, who was the father of a classmate, seemed to hang a lot while I was working and then …
No Arms, No Hands, All Heart The Beading Angel MysteryShrink in the Now* She’s always there. On the pedestrian walkway between the Mexico City Hilton and the Zocalo, sitting with her footless leg tucked under the one with the tennis shoe hiding where her toes were before the fire–her wings …
“Hey! You there! Don’t you see my halo? So move over!” “Paying Attention to What You Are Paying Attention To” Series What you pay attention to changes the experiences the world for other people. Maybe not the president or even the mayor, but what you pay attention to matters a …
