At the end of the day, there were always hugs for anyone who wanted them. There were also high-fives, air kisses, and winks. Dear Fourth-Grade Students and Families, I’m writing to tell you that I miss you. That I think we could have shared something special. That maybe no one else would have cared for […]
I was going to be left behind while everyone chatted about diapers and boppies and bonded over shared maternal experiences. Audrey was 28 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had a single mastectomy and endured months of chemotherapy. For her to stay cancer free, she has to take Tamoxifen, a drug that induces […]
Dear Dana is a bi-weekly advice column for humans who engage in romantic relationships. Please send your dilemmas, issues, conundrums, assumptions, conflicts, anxieties, worriments, obstacles, complications, predicaments, queries, questions, and any other synonyms for “problems” to deardana@rolereboot.org. Dear Dana, This is only about relationships in the broadest way, but I wanted to write to you anyway. […]
For me, movie-going is self-care. Happiness, to me, is taking myself to an afternoon showing at the movies—whisper it—on a WEEKDAY. “I’ll have a ticket for the 2pm showing, please,” I say, blissfully aware of the indulgence of that statement: It’s the early afternoon and I’m not at work. I’m not pretending to work. I’m […]
Once we get beyond the easy yes/no questions, it’s all over for me. If the sign says “Ten items or less,” I check my basket and don’t start a pedantic conversation about whether it should read fewer. Carton of milk, box of Cheez-Its, brick of cheddar, two kinds of cereal, bag of popcorn, jar of extra […]
Because it’s an invisible disorder, it’s often misunderstood. Imagine living the worst moment of your life over and over again. I feel my stomach drop. My body starts shaking; and all of a sudden, I just can’t calm down. I’m finding it hard to breathe; my hands start clenching and unclenching uncontrollably. Inside my chest, […]
I am a compulsive memorizer. I am terrified of making a mistake, ever. Tonight I fucked up dinner. I was trying to make tahdig, the Persian dish where the rice at the bottom of the pot crisps up into a golden-brown layer of deliciousness that can be sliced into wedges and devoured. Instead, I got […]
Body shaming is just one more thing in this big, scary world that I can’t protect her from, but damned if I’ll stop trying. My toddler was twirling in her tutu bathing suit while I shimmied into my plus-sized polka dot bikini. Since my 2-year-old is still in the phase where she finds it socially […]
