My roommate and I never really got along. We didn’t hate each other, don’t get me wrong, we just weren’t very close. Never on the same wavelength, never riding the same tide.

It made for some funny situations when we wouldn’t communicate very clearly. Her being gone one weekend without notice, me being gone the next. Silly things, simple things.

There was a man in her bed when I got home from cl...

I remember a warmth when I was younger, one that filled my body from the tips of my toes to the top of my head.

I remember the open arms of my father, scooping me up after work. He always left before I woke up, always came home late. But I’d wait at the door before I went to bed, and his arms were so warm.

I remember the kind words of my mother. She never wanted to be a mother, I would learn th...