Category: Essay
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Are you twins? Are you cousins?
Tell us about your first day at something — school, work, as a parent, etc. In 2002 our family embarked upon a monumental adventure: we moved to a foreign country for two years for my husband’s job. I asked for a leave of absence from my longtime job as a commercial real estate paralegal, but…
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Making Paradise Out of the Desert
I just returned from morning Mass. It is quite cold today, 33 degrees F as I write this, but with the wind chill factor it feels like 16 degrees F. Snow flurries greeted us when we began our short drive home from church. The sun is shining brightly into my writing space as I ponder…
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“Even the moon was embarrassed by the beauty of Barcelona.”
Do you have a favorite place you have visited? Where is it? This quote is from Andrew Barger’s book The Divine Dantes: Paella in Purgatory (Smashwords Edition, 2015), which is part two of Barger’s The Divine Dantes trilogy, which takes the characters of Dante’s The Divine Comedy and brings them forward to modern times. Full…
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A Cajun, an Italian, and a Belgian walk into a bar…
What are your family’s top 3 favorite meals? The title of this essay is a take on the age old joke, “A priest, a minister, and a rabbi walk into a bar…” But, these three cuisines really define three meals my family loves time and time again. I grew up in southeast Louisiana, on a…
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My 2026 Reading List: An Essay About Books
Thanksgiving 2025 is nearly upon us and I can’t wait to start my cooking and baking tomorrow! But, I am equally busy trying to complete my reading goal for 2025: as of today, I’ve read 64, halfway through my 65th, and have 10 more to read to meet my annual goal for this year of…
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France 🇫🇷 or Scotland 🏴, which would it be?
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? My maternal grandparents were Scottish immigrants, born and raised in Glasgow, who came to America for better jobs and religious freedom. My grandfather fought (and was gassed) in WWI, and never fully recovered his health after that experience. They were born Catholics living…
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Pleased to share my first byline with Business Insider!
https://www.businessinsider.com/kid-threw-up-on-plane-flight-attendant-hero-2025-10
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Outdoor Mass in Honor of Fr. Kapaun
Please see my latest freelance assignment! https://www.cathstan.org/local/mass-at-st-jude-church-in-rockville-honors-memory-of-father-emil-kapaun
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Nothing Gold Can Stay
Yesterday, September 24, 2025, my last aunt passed away. I only had three to start with and the last one living, my dad’s baby sister, died yesterday at the age of 88. She was seven years younger than my dad, and she grew up in my hometown. She graduated from high school the year I…
Michelle Blanchard Ardillo 