by jo | Nov 24, 2015 | Everyday Stories
If you told me 12 years ago that my world would change forever in a few months, I either wouldn’t have believed you, or I wouldn’t have been thankful at Thanksgiving. Not really. I probably would’ve said that I’d be grateful — good, strong church kid that I was. But I...
by jo | Oct 20, 2015 | Everyday Stories
“You never know, with where I’m from,” I said jokingly about some snarky comment he had made. “You talk so much crap about your town,” he said, shaking his head. I stopped, seriously taken aback. “But you know that I really love...
by jo | Mar 31, 2015 | Everyday Stories, Memoir & Essays
He must’ve been about 6 years old. His head full of blondish brown curls. He was tall, lanky, apparently even the “slim fit” pants would fall down because of his narrow width. I was a toddler, about three years old, with baby-fat chubby cheeks, big blue eyes, and...
by jo | Apr 1, 2014 | Everyday Stories
What do you get when a Forester and a Therapist have kids? Apparently you get 3 artists. What? Before she died, my sister was going to school studying math and music. To be honest, she started as a math major, because she was brilliant. Truly. And then somewhere in...
by jo | Oct 3, 2013 | Everyday Stories, Published Pieces
North State Voices: A grandmother’s legacy of love and life by Joanna O’Hanlon She didn’t want my sister’s grave to be alone. She was nearing death — she had been nearing it for over a decade — and yet as she was thinking about her final...