At My Daughter’s Baby Shower, Her Husband Dropped My Nine-Month Hand-Stitched Quilt On The Gift Table And Said, “This Thing Is Garbage.” I Smiled, Folded It Back Into My Tote, And Left The Country Club—Because By Morning, My Attorney Was Holding The Deed To That Lawn.

back then.

I was just hungry.

Weekends, I learned to fix a house.

There was a retired contractor at the hardware store on Hillside Avenue named Gene who would explain plumbing if you bought pipe from him.

I learned drywall from library books.

Tiling from a VHS tape borrowed from a neighbor.

Megan would sit on the floor in whatever room I was working on with continue reading …