Tag: #personalessay
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Remember and Honor
Shortly after I moved to Germany, I signed up as a volunteer for the Girl Scout troop at U.S. Army Garrison Schinnen in The Netherlands. One of the most rewarding experiences I had as a volunteer was helping the troop place American and Dutch flags on the graves at Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten. It […]
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You’re Invited
As we turned into the parking lot near One Observatory Circle, the butterflies in my stomach began fluttering faster and harder. I saw the shuttle that would drive us to the Vice President’s Residence, but before we could board, we had to be cleared by a Secret Service Agent. Once we were seated on the […]
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July 16
I feel guilty about this, but July 16 passed this year without me remembering it as the anniversary of Grandpa’s death. I think that’s the first time that has ever happened. Nineteen years. *** I was studying in Bath, England that summer, my senior year at Ohio State. It was the most exciting thing to […]
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Fruit Forward
The Craigslist ad beckoned to me – pouring and selling wine as an independent contractor around Southern Maryland? I’ve never been much of a salesperson, but how hard can that be? Wine practically sells itself. All I had to do was invite people to taste. I responded to the ad and received a request days […]
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The Accidental Gardener
We closed on our house two years ago today, and with the house came a decent-sized vegetable garden. It was all a bit intimidating. I had only been a homeowner once before and never got around to doing much in the way of gardening. Throughout Lance’s military career, we lived in a lot of rental […]
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Sheep Shit Shirt: An Oktoberfest Story
As I glanced at the empty seat next to me on the luxury coach and then gazed out the window, I knew without a doubt that the man exiting the hotel was going to be my seatmate. The first thing I noticed was his t-shirt, which advertised sheep manure. A minute later, he slid into […]
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Sentimental Journey
The night before Grandma died, she woke up, briefly, and teased my brother for coughing. “Ah-choo,” she said, smiling. Then she slipped back into unconsciousness. That was the last we heard her voice. It was just a couple weeks between her diagnosis of terminal cancer and her death. We thought it was Alzheimer’s, but it […]
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