The University of Memphis, English Building, freshman composition. 1997. A young graduate assistant teacher pushes a television cart into the classroom and tells us to write our first paper on the video he’s about to play. Seconds into the song, the opening electric guitar riffs wrap around me with familiarity just as the harmonica hooks join in… ‘Mary Jane’s Last Dance,’ by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. I prefer listening to great songs with my eyes closed, but this was a

‘I’ll be okay…’ Standing alone on the balcony overlooking a skyrise hotel lobby in Indianapolis, Indiana and gripping my flip phone that was pressed to my ear, I heard a tired version of my Papaw’s voice for the very last time. ‘I’ll be okay…’ The 20-something year old me was balancing a tandem of gain and loss. My career in the lumber industry was just beginning, although it was not unfamiliar to me. I’d spent my entire childhood watching my Papaw and uncles come and go as t

My body wakes up naturally. I open my eyes and see his phone posted on its charger…4:30 a.m. This same body is also conditioned to need...