Author: Timothy Willis

Dear Family, Months like this one remind me that Dante may have been onto something in Inferno when he depicts the ninth (i.e., the worst) circle of hell not as fire and brimstone, but as an extremely cold place where Satan is trapped in ice. Worrying about our Texas relatives, I was reminded of the…

Dear Family, Even though I’ve never conducted a proper analysis on phrases like, “I prefer to steer clear of politics on Facebook,” I feel reasonably confident asserting that they are followed by the word but and a political pronouncement approximately 100 percent of the time. Longtime readers of my letters with unusually good memories may…

Dear Family, I bought my first pair of reading glasses this month. And getting them at Costco meant that I actually bought my first three pairs of reading glasses this month. It’s impossible to pick up just one of anything at Costco, and I’m kind of surprised I didn’t have to get a 12-pack. But…

Dear Family, A week ago, the prophet invited us to turn social media into a gratitude journal by posting each day for a week about “what you are grateful for, whom you are grateful for, and why you are grateful.” I did not succeed in following this counsel. I typically post to social media between…

Dear Family, Hannah vowed to Crystal earlier this month that she would never allow her to live in a nursing home. (The vow reportedly did not mention anything about me.) In addition to her full-time job at the Utah State Hospital, which she loves, Hannah also occasionally pulls shifts at a private nursing home, which…

Dear Family, In keeping with what is perhaps America’s most universal and inescapable rite of passage, Crystal opened her AARP welcome letter this week. She doesn’t turn 50 for another month and seems unperturbed by the whole thing. I mention it here only because I know it will make my mother feel old, even though…

Dear Family, I was reminded this week that I don’t have a very good memory. I had forgotten, for example, how excruciatingly long it takes to drive across Nebraska. Driving across Montana, which we did last week, takes longer (Montana is nearly twice the size of Nebraska — I looked it up) but the trip…

Dear Family, July began with a quasi-physically-distant Independence Day visit with our friends the Eskelsens in Fairfax County, Virginia. The visit was prompted in part by our affection for the Eskelsens and in part because the Fourth of July is best celebrated away from the strictures of Montgomery County, Maryland. Everything is illegal here, including…