Rebecca’s Reflections
Winner! 2022 Independent Press Award for Multicultural Fiction
“Can you talk???” A few weeks ago my publisher, Melissa Carrigee, sent me an email with this in the subject line. She hadn’t written anything in the body of the email. But my email system, being ever so helpful, added this little reminder of its own accord: You may...
Southern Accents
My sister has two voices. I noticed this yesterday when we were in town. She has a voice for people she doesn’t know and another for her family. Her outside voice goes up an octave and softens. She smiles a lot in her outside voice and sounds friendly and inviting....
From There
I have a friend from Summit, New Jersey. She left when she was fifteen. Her parents moved to Raleigh, North Carolina for work, and that’s where I met her. She’s since lived in Washington, D.C., California, and now Virginia Beach, Virginia. She’s never returned to live...
Everyone Can See the Wind Blow
I met a man once on match.com. He wanted to go to Paris but told me he couldn’t until he found the right woman. “What if you don’t?” I asked. “Why not go now?” “If I don’t have anyone to share the romance of the city with me, I don’t want to go. It wouldn’t be worth...
Recipes
I have an index box of recipes that I almost never consult. It’s not even a box, to be honest, but rather an old red cloth clutch that a little girl in Japan gave me back in 1976. Keeping the recipes in that pouch saved space back in the day when I lived in tiny...
My Father’s Voice
The other day I heard my father’s voice. My father died in 2011. Hearing his voice again was an unexpected treat. Now, before you start envisioning séances and magical meetings, let me explain. I was searching for my father’s birthplace online. Crazy, I know. But...