Just call me a lucky lady — For most of my life, I thought very little about my breasts. They are neither large nor small. They are perfectly average. They don’t bother me when I run, nor do they cause backaches. …

My name is not Michelle A. Cmarik — My name is not Michelle A. Cmarik. There are pieces of my identity in this name. My grandmother’s maiden name was Cmarik, and her initials were “MAC.” Everyone called her Mac. When I started writing here, I chose this name because I wanted to channel my grandmother’s subtle boldness. I…

Replaying our lives through music — My rusty 2005 Toyota Corolla has an old CD deck. Every time I drive my beat-up car, I dig up my CD collection like a time capsule. Yesterday’s selection was The Beatles 1967–1970 collection, or the “Blue Album.” It’s the one I used to play in my friend Katie’s bedroom…

Our meeting was unforgettable, but I no longer recall his name — I first saw him on a wooden deck overlooking the vibrant green hills of the Andes mountains. I had arrived at the ecolodge the day before, a stop on my solo travels around Ecuador during a break from my teaching job in New York City. I was in my mid-twenties…

Eliminating the need for initiation might change things for us. — I have a friend who swears by a daily sex routine to maintain intimacy in her marriage. It’s not that she or her husband need to have sex every day. They also don’t continue this plan year-round. But every time they are in a rut when weeks have gone by…

Following your favorite writers isn’t a sure-fire way to find their latest work — When I joined Medium, I kept seeing articles about growing your followers. At the time, the writers who had 1K, 2K, or even 25K followers next to their names felt like the popular kids in high school. And then I got my feet wet here, and I started following all…

My dad was a Thanksgiving hero with his loaf of cranberry bread — My father is still very much alive. He is 80, overweight, and much slower than he used to be. He forgets things frequently and sometimes snaps at the people he loves. My father is alive, and yet sometimes I find myself cherishing stories of my father from my childhood as…

I waited to tell him that I knew. — If you had told me ten years ago that I would one day find my husband’s secret online dating profile and not care that much, I wouldn’t have believed you. I would have glanced at my young husband-to-be in a crowded room of our friends, seen him laughing and dancing…

A Monday matinee — Hi, Sir. Would you mind just moving your arm a bit? Sir? Did you hear me? I know you’re trying to catch the best angle for your recording of this adorable 14-minute performance of “5 Little Turkeys,” but with your arm outstretched like that you’re really affecting my ability to…