Mama, how do you build a family? A family? Well, my child, a family is at once the easiest and the hardest thing to build. Think of it as a garden. Maybe you expected rows and rows of neat tulips, standing straight and tall in their church pews, eating organic apples […]
I keep a small green box on my desk, and inside are all the letter tiles from an old game of Scrabble. When I sit at my laptop to write, and the words won’t come, I remind myself that inside this box is every sonnet, play, song, and story ever written. Romeo and Juliet. Little […]
My oldest son, Joseph, just started driver’s ed. We usually call him Joey, but lately he’s asked that we call him Joseph, on account of him being fifteen-and-a-half and all. For the uninitiated, driver’s ed is a formal course where teenagers learn how to drive. It’s a combination of classroom work, and time in the […]
Let this be the year we hold the door for one another. We smile at strangers. We plant a tree. We grow a tomato. We stop arguing about red and white and blue and orange. This year, I want to do things. I want to pet my beloved puppy at least a hundred […]
I wrote this piece after conducting extensive research. And by extensive research, I mean asking my son Jack a bunch of questions and hoping he would answer me. All in all, we had some good conversation, which isn’t always the case. Dear Santa, My name is Jack Cariello. I am fourteen years old, and I am very excited for Christmas this […]
Joseph. Joey. My firstborn child, my oldest son. I want to talk to you about something. It’s kind of important. See, lately I’ve been thinking about how, one day, Daddy and I aren’t going to be around anymore. This is a very scary thought for me. I never want to leave any of you behind. […]
Season’s greetings, friends and family! I am happy to report the Cariello family had a wonderful 2018. My husband Joe and I are doing well, and all five kids are happy, healthy, and active. We now have three teenage boys in the house. They eat like you can’t even imagine. The other day I snapped […]
When the sound of your 6-foot–size-13-shoe self jumping hopping grunting stimming threatens my very sanity, I try to remember. I try to remember how it might feel to live inside your body. I try to remember all the times I held your little hand in mine. Fingers dancing against my palm, desperate […]
Because of a boy, I know things. I kind of wish I didn’t. But I do. I know unconditional love it not easy love. Oh, it is not. Unconditional love is gritty, hold-your-head-in-your-hands hard. It is determined. It is raw. It is a choice. Because of a boy, I know that being alone is […]
Editor’s note: I wrote this post based on some conversations with my son Jack. Hello. This is Jack. My mother said we are going to your house for a holiday party this year. Last time I came to your house it didn’t go so good. It was Saturday, December 14th, 2013. I was very scared of your […]