Author: focusreport

That plane wasn’t meant to have me on it. Not with them, anyway. My ex-boyfriend Dariel had our daughter Lyla for the week and was taking her to visit his …

SHE WAS EXCITED FOR HER FIRST FLIGHT—BUT I WASN’T SUPPOSED TO BE THERE Read More

He hadn’t had much of an appetite for weeks. But that day, he was insistent. “I want tuna casserole,” he told me. “Just like your mom used to make it. …

MY UNCLE ASKED FOR ONE LAST MEAL—BUT IT WAS WHAT HE SAID AFTER THAT I’LL NEVER FORGET Read More

He’s the kind of kid who once tried to “boil toast.” No joke. He asked me where the microwave’s “on switch” was like it was a spaceship. The kind of …

MY NEPHEW CAN’T EVEN TURN ON THE MICROWAVE—BUT TODAY HE SHOWED UP WITH A PLATE OF HOMEMADE TREATS Read More

We were halfway through a long, miserable drive to Tucson—hot, cranky, and barely speaking after a petty argument about road trip playlists—when we felt the thump. We pulled over to …

A HIGHWAY PATROL OFFICER HELPED FIX OUR TIRE—AND THEN RECOGNIZED MY HUSBAND FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE Read More

Today’s my 97th birthday. I woke up with no candles, no cards, no phone calls. I live in a small room above a closed-down hardware store. The landlord doesn’t charge …

I BOUGHT MYSELF A BIRTHDAY CAKE—BUT NO ONE CAME Read More

Ryan and I had been together for nearly 13 years. He proposed under a thunderstorm—right when the sky cracked open and he laughed, saying, “If this isn’t a sign, I …

MY LATE FIANCÉ’S MOTHER DEMANDED HIS CAR AFTER THE FUNERAL — I SAID YES, BUT ONLY IF SHE AGREED TO THIS ONE CONDITION Read More

It was raining hard—one of those relentless spring storms. I was driving back from the grocery store when I spotted her, maybe seven or eight years old, standing alone on …

I GAVE A LOST LITTLE GIRL A RIDE HOME — 12 YEARS LATER, I FOUND HER NECKLACE IN MY MAILBOX Read More

They told me to rest. That the surgery went “as planned.” That I’d be home in a few days. But no one talked about the silence in the room after …

MY LITTLE SISTER CRAWLED INTO MY HOSPITAL BED—AND WHISPERED SOMETHING SHE SHOULDN’T KNOW Read More

I’d seen him every morning for almost a year. Same bench. Same brown paper bag. Same quiet whistle that never seemed to call anyone—except that one bird. A little sparrow, …

HE CAME EVERY DAY TO FEED THE SAME BIRD—UNTIL ONE DAY, THE BIRD BROUGHT SOMETHING BACK Read More

The whole kitchen was buzzing. Streamers that read “100” dangled from the ceiling, and there were enough cupcakes and cheese platters to feed a wedding. Everyone wanted a picture with …

WE CELEBRATED HER 100TH BIRTHDAY—BUT WHAT SHE WHISPERED AFTER THE CAKE MADE ME RUN COLD Read More