reader-essay

Written by Tangle readers Elli Purtell and Sarah Gripshover. We’re writing in response to a piece that ran in our local newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois, by a concerned woman who saw a young girl playing alone in a park and urged caution and parental supervision. We have no

I came into this world sixty-nine years ago. Growing up, I don’t remember my parents ever discussing politics. I guess they were too busy working to feed and clothe three kids, fighting about God knows what, dealing with my older brother’s mental illness, and eventually divorcing when I

This piece was authored anonymously by an independent middle school teacher, whose own children attended and graduated from Seattle Public Schools, and her husband works in Seattle Public Schools. They have taught in independent, public, and international schools in the Middle East and Europe as well as in Seattle.  Seattle

Editor's note: Identifying information has been generalized or changed to protect the anonymity of the kitties (honestly). The Sunday morning routine starts the same. Check the back of the car for the tub of dry cat food (currently half full), the wet-food cans (plenty), and two water jugs

A public library is a community resource, of course, but, for some, it is even more; it’s a refuge, a second home. My lifelong love affair with books began with my local library.  Whether you seek a quiet place to do homework, need some reference or research assistance, want

The red salt pig arrived a few days ago. I’d ordered it for my husband for Christmas, but he opened the Amazon box and saw it, miraculously unbroken, chucked in there with some nuts and bolts and wood polish. My order had gotten jumbled up with his. “What the

This post is part of our Sunday series of reader essays, and was written by Tangle reader Justin. Public, local libraries abound in virtually every town in America. From the libraries in New York that provide services to millions to those in small towns of fewer than a thousand people,