The Lonely Voice

It’s one of many Saturday nights in 1970 when I’m fifteen years old. I live in the very small town of Sumner, Illinois, with a population of around a thousand. We have no teen center. I don’t belong to a church that sponsors youth activities, and the Friday night sock hop after the basketball game…

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Berryville, Illinois: I was Listening to Your Lessons on Love

When I was a child, my Thanksgivings were always spent with my mother’s side of my family. We gathered at my grandmother’s house in the crossroads village of Berryville, Illinois, catty-corner from the general store that my grandparents had run once upon a time. My grandmother’s house is now gone as is the store and…

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