Starting Over
I Called to Say I Was There
by SlowMeadow16 · 1mo · 120 warm reactions
Starting Over
First days, blank pages, and the courage to begin.
17.9k stories behind this door
Starting Over
February at the Funeral Home
by ParchmentPendant6 · 1mo · 351 warm reactions
What Cora Called Me
The morning after my granddaughter flew home, I set out two coffee cups. The bicycle bell still hangs on the handlebars of a bike she outgrew three years ago.
by DaySpringThread13 · 1mo · 2.8k warm reactions
What Elena Offered
Lost my apartment to a coin flip. Moved to a border town where I knew no one. A night-shift coworker asked if I needed a ride home. I let myself say yes.
by DaybreakJournal13 · 1mo · 2.5k warm reactions
Starting Over
The Hand-Me-Down Schwinn
by YarrowBell22 · 1mo · 2.2k warm reactions
Starting Over
Why Do I Still Wedge the Rock?
by BriarGuitar8 · 1mo · 1.7k warm reactions
A Heatwave, a Rain-Warped Book, and a Sublet
Moved into the retirement community on the hottest day. A neighbor brought iced tea. The paperback on the windowsill belonged to the previous subletter.
by GlassBureau27 · 1mo · 464 warm reactions
Starting Over
Wednesday at the Lakeside Diner
by ThicketSteeple15 · 1mo · 657 warm reactions
What Leo Made
He painted the sign himself, crooked letters on a scrap of plywood. I kept it after the shop closed. Twenty years later, I still look at it when I'm wondering if it's too late to start something new.
by CobbleCairn11 · 1mo · 7.6k warm reactions
Foreign Coins, Three Entries, and a Birthday That Ended in Zero
Found my old diary while packing boxes. Only three entries, all from the year I turned seventy. Wrote the fourth one last night.
by EmberStairs16 · 1mo · 1.3k warm reactions
Starting Over
Three Shots, a Free Trial, and a Phone Passed Around
by BirchPilgrim17 · 1mo · 6.6k warm reactions
Starting Over
To the Boys Who Shook Hands Like a Secret
by VelvetBroach20 · 1mo · 3.9k warm reactions
A Wrong Number, a Paper Crown, and a Slow Week
Between Christmas and New Year, the casino town goes quiet. I dialed the wrong number on purpose and a stranger answered with kindness instead of annoyance. It was the first time in months I felt like I could begin.
by MeadowCodex14 · 1mo · 4.2k warm reactions
Blue Hour, Bus Driver, and a Number 4 Candle
On her fourth birthday, I take my granddaughter to pre-K in the blue hour. She asks if I'll be there when she gets back. I tell her I'll always be there.
by AmberCrescendo15 · 1mo · 2.5k warm reactions
Starting Over
"You're Doing the Right Thing"
by DuskAnthem3 · 1mo · 3.9k warm reactions
The Battered Hatbox
When my aunt died, I inherited her hatbox. Inside were every letter I had ever written her, plus a bundle from my brother. That box taught me that some silences are meant to be broken.
by SeaGlassCompass19 · 1mo · 1.2k warm reactions
Starting Over
Friday at the Funeral Home
by SextantLetter14 · 1mo · 3k warm reactions
Twenty Summers in the Same Shallow End
On my first payday at the new job, I took my kids to the public pool. I sat in the shallow end for the first time in twenty years. The jar of lost buttons on the counter reminded me of all the things I'd been too scared to pick up.
by CloisterMug15 · 1mo · 1.2k warm reactions
Who Reads a Dead Man's Horoscope?
I called your number just to hear the ring. The horoscope said 'change is coming.' It felt like you were talking to me from somewhere else.
by SlateStairs14 · 1mo · 3.7k warm reactions
Starting Over
Who Carries a Name That Isn't Theirs?
by LichenCandle15 · 1mo · 1.6k warm reactions
Seventeen Years of the Same Ring
A voicemail left at 11pm, sitting on a plastic lawn chair by the lake, remembering the nightly phone call that stopped after seventeen years.
by MarbleCrumpet12 · 1mo · 457 warm reactions
Starting Over
Tuesday Night at the End of the Lane
by CopperCellar19 · 1mo · 3.8k warm reactions
For the Man Who Rode Shotgun
Moved to a new city after she died. The only quiet hour is my morning drive to the library. I sit in a plastic lawn chair on the porch and listen to the end of a free trial. Silence is the sound of starting over.
by StonecropNocturne16 · 1mo · 3.2k warm reactions
Starting Over
Three Entries in Five Years
by CinnamonFlask12 · 1mo · 2.7k warm reactions