Dear Dog:

Thank you for barking your head off when people come to the door. Such a soothing sound.

Thank you for the time you ate a steel wool pad when we left the cabinet below the kitchen sink open for two seconds. Such a special discovery to see your muzzle covered in purple foam. We loved going to the vet that time. A gift.

Thank you for the teeth cleaning where they had to sedate you, and the surgeries, and the medications you’ve needed. I relish going to the pharmacy. I am so glad they know me well. And we are especially thankful that although we do not have a child we have managed to pay the equivalent of college tuition for your medical care. So blessed are we.

We appreciate the socks you chewed, the doors you scratched, the crate you clawed through. We love fixing things, or replacing them. 

Thank you for coming with us to that gathering where we all ate Indian food for dinner. We were so excited to learn, in the middle of the night, that you had managed to get a hold of some yourself. We were even more excited to fully grasp that dogs and Indian food don’t mix well.

Thank you for hating bath time even though you are a water dog. 

A special thank you for not coming inside even when I call your name multiple times. I appreciate your ignoring me. Truly. 

Thank you for specializing in finding cat poop. 

Thank you for waking me up at night. My already difficult sleep needed a little extra help with keeping me wide-eyed. Because who needs sleep? Not I.

But I really mean it when I say:

Thank you for walking with me multiple times a day when I know you don’t want to. 

Thank you for greeting me with your tail wagging when I come home as if I have been gone for a decade even when it’s been ten minutes. I don’t have a tail, but if I did, I would wag it because I am always just as happy to see you.

Thank you for keeping me company 24 hours a day and for giving me someone to talk to, other than myself, when the rest of the household is away.

Thanks for playing hide-and-seek—for knowing how to play it, for wanting to play it, and for letting me think I only do it for your entertainment.

Thanks for coming over to me when I cry, even when you are in another room (except that one time when I started crying and you left the room, but that’s fair—sometimes I get tired of me, too).

Thank you for barking your head off when strangers come to my door. Well, you bark your head off with everyone, but it’s okay. I feel safer with you.

Thank you for teaching me (or trying) to be more patient. And for helping me understand again that love isn’t always easy, but it’s always worth it.

Thank you for still loving me when I make mistakes.

Thank you for being my best entertainment, my favorite comedy act, my puzzle to figure out, the bearer of the brunt of all my maternal instincts (for letting me hold you like a baby), and thank you for never tiring of me because I never tire of you, even on our hard days.

Thank you for being my Fuzzy Navel, my Little Piece of Sunshine, my Stinkerbell, my Sweetness, Pumpkin Pie, my Bundle of Love.

Thank you for making my heart grow a whole other room that I didn’t think was possible. You are that room, and it just keeps getting bigger.

Upcoming Events

WYSO Book Nook Interview with Vick Mickunas (TOMORROW!)
February 27, 7 a.m. Tune in here.

The Art of Memoir & Personal Essay: A Generative Writing Workshop (ONLY TWO SPOTS LEFT)
March 10-April 7, 2021, 2:30-5 p.m.
Join me in this five-week, online (Zoom) workshop during which you will generate new writing, read writing that inspires, and learn some tools and techniques on the craft of personal essay/memoir writing. There are no critiques in this workshop. The goal is for you to leave with first drafts and a writer’s toolbox ready to help you finish and write the rest of your own life stories. Learn more here. Cost: $329. REGISTER HERE.

Three Emerging Writers Series at East Tennessee State University (A Reading)
March 3, 2021, 4-7 p.m.
The Bert C. Bach Written Word Initiative and the ETSU Creative Writing Society present the latest installment of the Three Emerging Writers Series, with writers Shuly Xóchitl Cawood, Ciona Rouse, and Larry Thacker. This event is FREE and open to the public and will be conducted via Zoom. The meeting ID to join is 934 9128 3198. Access link here

Let’s Write Together!
Having a hard time finding inspiration and motivation to write? Join me for any (or all) of these online one-hour sessions. We’ll talk about a piece of writing, I will give you a prompt, and then you will WRITE. These workshops are part of Press 53’s High Road Festival of Poetry and Short Fiction. Cost: $10/session.
March 2, 2021, noon EST: Register here
March 16, noon EST: Register here
March 30, noon EST: Register here

It’s All in the Details
March 18, 2021, 7 p.m. EST
In this online seminar, I will share how I used sensory details in my stories from A Small Thing to Want to create a sense of place; build an emotional landscape; and show the passage of time. This workshop is part of the Five Ways of Looking at Short Fiction series with Scuppernong Books. Registration fee includes both the workshop and a copy of A Small Thing to Want. Cost $25. Learn more and register here.