Writer + Sociologist
My father called me the morning of April 16, 2007. Sirens filled the background on his end of the line—he asked if I was okay. “Yes, I’m fine. Where are you? What’s going on?” “Twenty-three dead,” he said flatly. I stood in the living room of my apartment with the phone to my ear. The […]
Before you begin to Google a specific event or occurrence, first open your browser and type “tragedy” into the search engine. You will see a score of links to definitions, as well as the website for an all-metal tribute band to the Bee Gees called Tragedy. This is the surface. This is the jumping off […]
I played a sick game with myself in December of 2012 when my roommate told me the Sandy Hook news story. I let my mouth drop and my eyes widen, but I did not sit with her in the small yellow living room and watch the television screen like she did. She sat there in […]
Dear Ms. A, You don’t know me and I don’t know you. Truthfully, I didn’t really know your son either, but I sat in front of him in our American Lit class in 2007. I knew his energy. I didn’t really know anyone else in that class either because back then, I was quiet. Back […]
Whitney Hayes 