My friend Erika and I met when I was twenty-four years old and working for the Catholic Church in California. Erika was 14 years old. We became friends through youth ministry and, through the years, have remained very close.…

A safe, though very bumpy, flight home. A few hours of sleep for them; most of the time, Gabriel was sleeping on me; when I returned from the bathroom, this was my view of Sleeping Beauties.      

Far from the deserted country roads that are lined in golden hues, traced in grey, with blue herons standing solo upon unplanted fields due to the lack of water, we drove through long-needed rain and autumn chill, windshield wipers wipe…

    Golden fields, to the Golden Gate, to the golden domes of Paris, to my golden embrace.  

Have you ever played Jenga? Sacha, Yann, Gabriel, my mom, and I played over and over again. Gabriel caught on quickly, my mom was a master, and we played as a team and not individually, which for our family is…