Yesterday I shared my likes/dislikes lists as inspired by a New York Times mentor text. A couple commenters mentioned they could see a slice in each of my listed items, and I hadn’t quite seen it that way. I returned to read and reread my list, and y’all are brilliant. Here’s my “like” list again –

And I suppose you’re right – I could indeed tell you about the time I started counting down to my birthday in class and received an abundant amount of KitKats on the day of or about the hidden basket brimming with handwritten notes I’ve ever received or about The Oh Hellos concert I was weary about attending yet turned out to be a top favorite event or about the special notebook I received from my student (or about the notebook from my colleague or about the Erin Condren notebook I received with my birthday discount) or about the way Elizabeth Acevedo‘s “The Poet X” changed my life and allowed me to bond with my much older sister or about the secret small town bookstore Kyle and I stopped into while in Florida or about the experience of receiving a prenatal Thai massage or about my unhealthy obsession with reading the New York Times Morning News (or about how I have my advanced classes select articles from NYT every week to respond to) or about how I was going to avoid an epidural at all costs dammit and the nurse walked in on me filling in my coloring book with colored pencils at hour 19 of labor (I gave in at hour 30) or about how my 72 year old mentor and I have an ongoing Wordle competition or about how I believe hands have such deep stories to tell (or specifically about how hands have both healed me and hurt me) or about how moving it was to hear Javier Zamora read from his memoir “Solito” or about how delicious it felt to share my pieces in a writing workshop and receive praise or about how I’d sworn off caffeine when I was 11 but became addicted to Canada Dry ginger ale when I was pregnant with my first or about my silly, evolving discovery of sour punch bites or about the one time my mom’s caldo de pollo brought me back to life (or the second time or the third time) or about how setting my alarm clock each night gives me a sense of peace and control or about the time Kyle and I signed up for an Airbnb virtual “coffee experience” during covid for our anniversary or about the vodka cranberries that turned me into a fool that one night or about the chips & queso I made in the crockpot for super bowl or about the joy my students find when we get to Julius Caesar (or about how Lady Decker can perform one helluva Portia stabbing) or about my identity crisis in changing my favorite number to 9 or about how Matt de la Peña’s “LOVE” has changed my life (or about how The Jesus Storybook Bible has brought me to my knees and to tears) or about how I couldn’t sleep when Kyle and I went to bed mad at each other so I started folding laundry at 1 in the morning or about how I cannot fully pay attention to a movie or show without reading the captions or about the road trip driving back to Houston from Chicago (or about that girls road trip where we had to pull over for an acquaintance who was too afraid to pee on the road but couldn’t hold it in so she peed in our only trash bucket or about the road trip where Kyle and I had to pull over for gas immediately and it took us through a small neighborhood with huge, racist signs in every single front yard or about the road trip where we dared to trek the 1200 miles to South Florida with a newborn and toddler).

Well, damn. I guess I really do have stories to tell, huh? (If you read that in one breathe, you’re one step closer to knowing me, virtual friends!)