It’s difficult for me to pinpoint the first time I realized I wanted to write a book. And it’s a pretty weird thing to tell someone when they ask what I do in my spare time {what spare time?}: “I’m writing a book.” It’s a hefty project, but so far, I’m enjoying the journey. In […]
MoreThe summer before my junior year in college, I was 20 years old. I was home in Indiana for a few months, and Sheena and I were headed out for a typical summer night—out to a lake house. This was Evan’s family lake house—a notorious hotspot for partying in high school. Once we arrived, it […]
MoreI never saw much of Adam during school breaks. Over the summer, Adam and his family spent time at their lakeside cottage in Michigan. Over Christmas break, he was either closing the cottage or traveling to visit other family members. From the outside, his family looked perfect. Adam’s dad worked for one of the largest […]
MoreI keep a giant, expandable folder of notes, journal entries, cards, ticket stubs, and all things that might jog my memory as I attempt to write this book. Over the next few weeks, my assignment is to write and organize all of my “Adam” information—my first love. I can hear the singing from the angels […]
MoreWhen I started this blog a week ago, I was behind on my Lifelong Project schedule. However, since I have been writing more for the blog (which in turn means writing more for the memoir), I was actually ahead of schedule by a week. But then something horrible happened. My laptop fell off my bed, […]
MoreThe summer before my junior year I was hanging out with the usual group—Jon and Adam, when we went out to the Marina. We met up with Rachel and a few of her girlfriends. It was the last night of the summer and we were determined to do something memorable. Boys being boys, they wanted […]
MoreI was at my friend Michelle’s house after school. She called her friend Jon to see if he wanted to hang out and he said he’d be over to pick us up. He arrived in his black Sunfire—complete with sunroof. His friend Wil was in the passenger’s seat. We drove off, on our way to […]
MoreMain topics: Adam Austin Eddie 1. Adam 2. Austin 3. Eddie 4. Austin Things for later (book II): Hank Matt B. Matthew Matt C.
MoreAfter looking at my timeline, and some notes I had from my relationship with Austin, I was able to go a little deeper with that first timeline I posted. Here goes: April 20, 2006: Austin sends me postcards from his class trip to the west coast. July 24, 2006: Austin regrets our physical relationship. March […]
MoreIn mid-August, the summer after I graduated high school, I packed my little blue Daewoo to its gills and began the drive to my new home in Baton Rouge, La. While I had dreamed of this day for months, it was difficult to leave my hometown and all of my friends. However, 14 hours in […]
More“Psst…hey,” I whispered. “So, do you think he had sex with his ex-girlfriend?” “Umm, maybe if they dated for a long time,” Sheena said. “You’re right, I will ask him later.” We were sitting in a glorified shed my boyfriend Zach called the Tiki Hut, due to its string of palm tree lights draped from […]
MoreAside from writing a book, it has become a dream of mine to be published in The New York Times’ Modern Love column—I know, I really have some hefty dreams here. I’ve written and submitted two columns, both of which I am proud of, but I am still working toward my goal. I came across […]
MoreIt’s time to add a little juice to this machine! Over the year, one thing I HAVE been doing is creating a timeline of things that happened in my life — some of them pertain to “How to Make Lemonade,” others don’t. This is me accepting the fact that my memory sucks, so how am […]
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The Bitter Lemon 