Kismet of a Triplet
“I had a sex dream about you,” Laura, my roommate at the time, said between awkward giggles. She had recently broken up with her college sweetheart. “Well, how was it?” I asked with morbid curiosity. As a gay man who’s never been intimate with a woman, I was genuinely intrigued. “Not great.” We both laughed. Luckily for Laura, one of my triplet brothers, Ian, who’s straight, was visiting soon thereafter. Playing yenta on a night out during his visit, I nudged my brother to go dance with her. A decade later, I’m now a proud uncle to their daughter, Anderson. — Justin Kaplan
Rest Like Rain
I was 19 when my father took his own life. Mom and us three kids writhed in the special sticky mud made only by loss caused by the person lost. The year was numb, angry, quiet. But soon enough I found myself smiling at the thought of my father and his dorky dances, his smile and countless T-shirts with holes. Just like a rain that I let fall, at some point, I decided to let him rest. He wanted to — so badly. So be it. Rest. I love you nonetheless. — Emerson Lange
Exes Without the Bitterness
What do I call you now, my “was-band”? My “fam-igo”? After 26 years, the last half steeped in unsustainable effort, we’ve reached radical acceptance. We’re family, lifelong allies, but no longer a couple. Our relationship has simply changed form. Like honey, whose sticky-sweet nectar never spoils, only crystallizes, our marriage is now sealed with our raw honeymoon on one end, and our refined crystal-moon at the other. We’re grateful that we can still savor the sweetness between us. — Melanie Kong-Shaw
In His Eyes
Before starting cancer treatment, I asked my 4-year-old, “What would you think if Mama were bald?” He replied sincerely, “You’d be just like Godzilla.” Knowing the depths of his admiration for Godzilla, I accepted the compliment. Yet his questions about death were unavoidable, along with his fear that I’d disappear. I wanted to make promises the physician in me knew were impossible to keep: You, me, together, forever. My heart felt tighter than my skin, darkened and peeling. But with every cycle of healing, I remembered I was a fantastic, death-defying creature, fierce and resilient in my son’s eyes. — Kelly Kuo
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