Category Archives: Charlie
Letters to Charlie: On Turning 13
My dearest Charlie — the teenager, You’ll have to forgive me a moment. My heart rate immediately shot up, and I may need to find a paper bag to breathe into. Today, my son, you woke up a TEENAGER. The … Continue reading
Letters to Jack: On Turning 8
Dear Jack, I experience a jarring, yet wonderous moment each time I pick you up from your after-school program. Parents congregate in the preschool room while teachers fetch our kids, so I get to spend several minutes watching the little … Continue reading
Letters to Charlie: On Turning 12
Dear Charlie, I have a vivid memory of you as a tiny toddler, sitting on the long part of our sofa with your stubby legs barely reaching the edge of the first cushion. One day, I marveled, you’ll be a … Continue reading
Letters to Charlie: On Turning 11
Dear Charlie, One of the reasons I could never be a book critic — and why I’ve always sucked at arguments — is because I react to life with a lot of feeling, and can never quite seem to put … Continue reading
Letters to Charlie: On Turning Ten, In Quarantine
My dear, sweet boy, This isn’t how I imagined your tenth birthday. Back in February, before the world stopped, we thought this day would be filled with a disc-golf game for your friends, cheap pizza and soda, and almost certainly … Continue reading
Letters to Charlie: On Turning 9
My dear son, I’m writing this letter while you’re lying next to me in bed, reading. See, you’re 9 years old now, so you get to stay up until a very-late 8:30 p.m. On nights I put you to bed … Continue reading
Letters to Charlie: On Turning 8
Happy birthday, my baby boy. You always tell me you’re no longer a baby when I call you that, and I always respond with that awfully cliche, but so totally true statement that no matter what your age, you will … Continue reading
Letters to Charlie: On Turning 7
My dear boy, Years ago, I was hired by a friend to photograph her seven-year-old daughter’s birthday. You were a baby then, maybe as old as Jack is now, and I remember thinking how big, how adult, all of the … Continue reading
Letters to Charles: Year Six
Dear Charles, Notice I didn’t write “Charlie.” This is because I’m trying to honor your wish to be called by your official name. A week ago, you announced I could no longer refer to you by your nickname. My name … Continue reading
Letters to Jack: Month 15
Hey there, baby, It’s 5:30 a.m. You just had your I’m-not-ready-to-be-awake-but-I’m-crying-anyway bottle of milk, so I have about an hour until you get up for reals. You woke me up from a nightmare about losing Charlie on Pirates of the Caribbean and simultaneously feeling desperate about getting teenagers … Continue reading
Hour 23 