When We Were Young

Sam in a Ball State Shirt

We lived at Chris’s family farm, the three of us. Sam was the 6th generation Willis to inhabit the 100-year-old farmhouse. We tore out old ceilings, built bigger closets, painted every surface that could be prepped and sanded. We sang and danced a lot then, that cerulean-eyed, 10-pound baby in my arms or strapped to […]

Seventeen

“Seventeen” is a mid-70s love song by Janis Ian– horrible in the way all mid-70s love songs are — but with a message and a universality that has earned it a permanent home on my “Sappy Love Songs” playlist. Because seventeen is when we begin to understand ourselves and our place in this world. I […]