2024 NATIONAL MEDAL
for Museum and Library Service Finalist

Adults

Tea & Misery

Forcing Jesse to have “afternoon tea like The Royals” felt extra passive-aggressive, even by Lisa’s standards. He’d told her before: coffee (with cake) was for happy times; while tea (with honey and lemon) was for misery: divorce, funerals, illness.
Everyone knew this. Everyone except Lisa.
Lisa loved Chamomile--it “soothed her”. Funny, she didn’t seem so “soothed” while tossing his belongings out after he refused ‘afternoon tea’.
Tea: The beverage of ‘break-ups’, too.
 

Get Up

I was sleeping. It was my first day of summer vacation. I had just completed my junior year of high school. My summer plan was to get a job and save for a car. At 7:30, I suddenly woke to the noise of a vacuum cleaner in my bedroom. It was my mother who announced if you want a job start looking early in the morning. Guess what! I got up.