Donna Hoke is a writer, crossword puzzle constructor, and playwright (THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR). Her work has been produced across the country, as well as in Seoul and Manchester. She is also the author of Neko and the Twiggets, a children’s book about mice living in a double bass.

Brief Lives, Enduring Love

“Two sets of twins?!” The words are always accompanied by shock, and I cringe even before the inevitable follow-up begins: “Do twins run in your family? What are the odds? How do you do it?” I hate the attention, I hate the prying, but mostly I hate that the truth isn’t obvious.

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After graduating from Skidmore College in 2010, Claire Solomon lived in Jackson, Mississippi and worked as an Education Fellow at the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life. She now lives in New York City and works as a Program Officer at the Covenant Foundation. She enjoys singing and telling and gathering stories–especially stories of those who came before her.

Love in the Time of Geriatrics

In the middle of the night, I knew he had died. I opened my eyes, lifted my laptop from the floor, and Googled his name plus the word “obit.” I pressed “search.” Sure enough, there it was. Three months before, at ninety-three, he had passed away. I had loved him, even though 71 years stood between us. His voice grew to be the one I listened to the most as I rewound and pressed play on my tape recorder. The last time we met, he kissed me on the cheek. I didn’t wash my face until the next day.

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Jennifer Schmidt is a 48-year-old freelance journalist and editor. For many years she worked as a public radio reporter and editor first in Seattle and then in Boston. She now lives with her husband and two beautiful sons in Mexico City. In her free time, she writes a blog about the street dogs of Mexico.

An Illness Stronger than Love

I was on a week-long field workshop for environmental journalists when I met Jonathan. It was summer and we were deep in the Montana Rockies. Our group had stopped for lunch next to a sapphire blue lake and our guide pointed out that there was a good hiking trail up to a lookout if we were interested. Only Jonathan and I took up the offer. That was fine with me. I’d noticed him already. He was lean and tall and quick to smile.

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Katy Horan is a pulmonary and critical care physician who lives and works in Seattle. In her spare time, she secretly blogs about vegetables and infertility. Her previously published works include dry scientific papers on nontuberculous mycobacteria that embarrassingly have more readers than her blogs Fruitful Earth and Vegetable of the Year.

A Time to Be Born and a Time to Die

Infertile is an arid word. It is so dry, that my mouth becomes parched and I choke on the phrase, “I am infertile.” I prefer childless. It sounds breezier, like a summer sleeveless dress, rather than a straightjacket. In the true vernacular of infertility, I should say my husband, Dan, and I are infertile, but every month that passes without pregnancy is like a gigantic foam finger, jabbing at me, “You, you, you.” Shame on you, I tell myself, this is your punishment for over-indulging in coffee, work and wine.

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