The bitter cold subsided and we finally got a nice snow. I went walking under the streetlights with four-year-old Xavier. We caught snowflakes on our tongues, found sticks to scratch our names in the pristine whiteness and followed our own tracks home where I sat down with John Knoeple’s new book, Walking in Snow. The […]
Carol Manley
Carol Manley is a Springfield-based freelance writer whose three grown children now take themselves to work. She recently earned a master’s degree in English from the University of Illinois at Springfield.
Posted inNews
White Christmas
Untitled Document The church people come for a visit By CAROL MANLEY I had to give the people credit for climbing those stairs. The security lock on the door had been broken for a year. When I had moved into that building, pregnant and with a baby on my hip, I had to pay a […]
Posted inNews
The King and I
Christmas 1982. Sarah was 4. Jonah was 2. Jonah was too young for expectations, and I was grateful for that. As for my daughter, Sarah, well, I hadn’t seen her since mid-October. It had been a nice fall day. I’d gotten my monthly check for $329. That and some food stamps were all we had […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Capturing lost stories
I once had a political-science professor who believed that air conditioning had destroyed the fabric of our society. Before air conditioning, he said, people spent summer nights sitting outdoors on stoops and porches and park benches — and they told stories. They shared common beliefs. We don’t have those stories anymore. Our stories come from […]
Posted inOpinion
The lost promise of “take our daughters to work day”
My son grew up fatherless, but there were men in his life. One day, one took him shooting. When Ray brought him home, I asked how it went. “Great!” Jonah said. Then, with a thoughtful look on his face, he added, “You know, most people don’t have enough insurance.” This was not a lead-in to […]
