Author: Melissa Kutsche

Humor

Woman breaks promise to herself, admits to buying new books before reading the books she already owns

LAS VEGAS, Nevada – A local woman received several books in the mail this month, even though she had made a vow not to purchase new reading material until she had read the books already sitting on her bookshelf. “I know I should read what I have first,” said Melissa Kutsche, 36. “But I got so excited…I couldn’t help myself.” Kutsche also admitted to checking … Continue reading Woman breaks promise to herself, admits to buying new books before reading the books she already owns

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Military Life

A Note of Gratitude to my Non-Military Friends: You Don’t Have to “Get It” to Get Me

Dear Non-Military Friends, The number of holiday cards we receive is getting smaller. I know there are a lot of factors contributing to this – including the fact that in the first seven years of my husband’s military career, we moved four times. But regardless of how many times my address has changed, your cards show up in my mailbox each December without fail. Thank … Continue reading A Note of Gratitude to my Non-Military Friends: You Don’t Have to “Get It” to Get Me

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Poetry

Five Things to Do With a Mistake

Have a staring contest with your mistake. Take a deep breath, open your eyes, and glare at that thing. Hold its gaze until your eyes burn, until tears stream down your face. When you can’t bear it anymore, keep staring. Lock eyes until it looks away. If you find this impossible, don’t be afraid to blink. Keep practicing. Try again. Trust that you will outlast … Continue reading Five Things to Do With a Mistake

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Marriage

Endangered Species

It’s not rational to believe that the omission of her name on an envelope is a true attempt at erasure. And yet, it is hard not to feel its prick, hard not to know that there are parts of her that have slowly evaporated…goals and dreams that have disappeared, parts of her identity that have been shuffled around and set aside. Sometimes it seems like a name is all that remains, and she must hold to it until her knuckles are white; she must cling to the snippets that remain of the person she was. Continue reading Endangered Species

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Travel

Origami of the Heart

The face of a wristwatch stares at me from its case, frozen at 8:15 a.m. Tattered backpacks, left behind by children on their way to school, wait for their owners to claim them from this post-apocalyptic lost-and-found. A tricycle, now rusted, joints stricken with gout, spent 40 years underground before it was resurrected for exhibition. It belonged to a boy named Shin, and grief gnaws … Continue reading Origami of the Heart

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