Meet our narrator, “I’m the youngest, nicknamed Flaky Suzy.” She’s one of three siblings and has just lost her mother. Someone’s got to write the eulogy. “Three days before her funeral,” we learn, “in an uncharacteristic act of democracy, Dad tells the three of us to decide who will deliver the eulogy.” And so, here we have the portrait of a family, each member with his or her own disposition and traits, and to each a unique set of memories surrounding mom’s life that intersect with family dynamics. Suzy’s narration, however, includes not just her unique take, but a hidden strand of events.
Continue reading “Withheld. Commentary on Lisa Ferranti’s “The Eulogy Competition””Tag: Family Drama
Homemade. Commentary on Vicki Wilson’s “Jelly”
“[T]his was my first time making strawberry jelly,” says our narrator-protagonist. And the measurements need to be just right. Vicki Wilson’s “Jelly” opens with emphasis on deliberate and careful measurement. But as we’ll soon discover, there’s more at stake than making a common spread for toast. “If the jelly set, it was a sign that my mom wasn’t mad at me.” This recipe and its progress from harvested ingredients to set jelly is the metaphorical vehicle by which the reader is transported through generations in this family—past, present, and… future.
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