Dad II

"One day my daughter came back from C.'s apartment and told me about a plastic cupcake she'd accidentally flushed down the toilet. She'd been very sad, she explained, but then Daddy had gotten a letter from the cupcake. It was having an adventure at the bottom of the ocean! It was happy down there. Turns out the cupcake was making friends with a seahorse, a starfish, and a shark. It was probably going to send another letter soon."

~~ from Splinters by Leslie Jamison

Dad

"On the days when I dropped our daughter at his apartment, C was usually waiting for us on his stoop. As soon as we reached his block, she would run to him grinning, her tiny feet pattering along the sidewalk. He leaned down to swoop her up, then held her aloft and spun her around. He was delighted to see her. She was delighted to see him."

~~ from Splinters by Leslie Jamison

Los Angeles

"In Los Angeles, it was easier to breathe. It always was. My hometown made me feel at ease in a way no other landscape ever would: the strip malls and cloverleaf freeway exits, the rush of salt wind of the Pacific Coast Highway, the dark silhouettes of palm trees against those startling, smog-brightened sunsets."

~~ from Splinters by Leslie Jamison