Sharon Nesbit-Davis

Lessons by Mrs. Crim

I used my brothers’ new crayons and wrote every letter I knew on our bare wood stairs. My mother screamed when she found it and blamed my older brothers. She did not accuse me because I wasn’t in school yet. My brothers denied involvement, pointed out clues and named their suspect. “Sharon did this.” The “S” was perfect, but the… Continue reading Lessons by Mrs. Crim

My Eclipse

When I was eight my class made pinhole cameras to see the eclipse. My teacher may have explained what an eclipse was, but if she did, I wasn’t paying attention. What caught my attention was her warning, “Do not look at the sun during the eclipse. It could blind you.” But I wanted to become… Continue reading My Eclipse

Seeing

“You have your father’s eyes.” Strangers said this as if they were the first to see it. They looked from me to him, then back to me. “Big brown eyes. Just like your Daddy’s.” He shrugged and put his hand on my shoulder. I smiled and kept my eyes open wide on the stranger. It felt… Continue reading Seeing

The Gift

My father picked me up from the bus. I was too busy talking about semester finals and problems with my landlord to notice his silence. When we pulled up to the house, I knew something was wrong. No wreath on the door. No electrically lit candles in the windows. Inside there was nothing to show Christmas was… Continue reading The Gift

Moon Dance

It is getting late, but I don’t tell the kids it’s past bedtime. Not tonight. I wish George could be here, but he’s out of town. When I told him about it, he laughed — the laugh that makes him take off his glasses, wipe his eyes, and then bust out laughing again. I wash… Continue reading Moon Dance

My Father the Spy

My father was a smart man, perhaps brilliant. He was a scientist. I’d tell people that and describe visiting his research lab where a white rat bit my finger when I tried to pet him. If they assumed he was working on a cure for cancer or inter galactic travel it wasn’t my fault. I never told them… Continue reading My Father the Spy

Departures

Before I leave work, I exchange my pants for a skirt. There is no dress code for preparing a body for Baha’i burial, but for Esther, we will follow the Native American tradition of women wearing dresses in sacred ceremonies. Those ceremonies are the only time Esther wore a dress. There are instructions for the… Continue reading Departures

Gifts

Let me listen… Help me hear the stories… Make me speak the truth… My cell phone rings in the cabin and I jump to answer. It feels like a dream. Cell phones don’t work here. The ring tone is the waltz; the one I assigned to my parents. The deck of cards icon pops up… Continue reading Gifts

Visited

My son and a friend went to Canada for a week-end workshop to contact aliens. Before he left, Nathan asked me to not tell Grandpa Nesbit. I promised, but he didn’t have to ask. I would never tell my father, but I had my own reasons. Nathan and I agree it is more logical to believe there are… Continue reading Visited

Assumptions

My mother was a housewife. She claimed it without pride or apology. She spent hours cleaning and cooking and received nothing in return, except for the annual Hallmark Mother’s Day card claiming we appreciated everything she did. Once, and only once, she demanded acknowledgement. Every week she vacuumed the venetian blinds, but once a year… Continue reading Assumptions