Sasee Magazine

Last summer as I sat idling, waiting for the train to pass, I glanced over at the lemonade booth set up in a front yard. The train was long and slow. I was hot, and from the looks on the kids’ faces, business was even more sluggish than the train. I contemplated just ignoring their [...]

When my kids were growing up, the concept of “time-out” was not in our vocabulary. We sent kids to their room or told them to, “Sit there and don’t make a sound!” but never did we say, “Okay, you are going to get a time-out.” The whole concept of that, to me, was stupid and [...]

Someone, (sorry, if you are reading this) gave me a music CD with the plastic wrap missing for Christmas one year. I later learned she had opened it, recorded it, wrapped it and then given it to me. I know this because she told me – not that she had much choice, the missing plastic [...]

Whenever my cell phone rings to the tune of Beethoven’s famous melody, joy takes over my spirit. I gladly answer knowing my daughter, Rachel, is on the other end. “Hello, sweetie-girl!” “Hello, lady-bug!” And so begins one of our many long distance conversations. It took some getting used to, but when Rachel first declared her [...]

When my kids were little, I had a recurring dream: My neighbor’s children were standing in my driveway saying, “Let’s go to Mikey’s house. His mother makes great fudge.” In the dream, I’m looking out a bay window, beating on the glass, yelling, “No! No!” It was a weird dream, since I’ve never made fudge, [...]

A red, porcelain bow hid the clasp on the trinket box. Its round, bulb shape was intersected by a gold-tone, filigree band, hinged on one side and threaded with a thin, but sturdy filament for hanging. I opened the ornament and placed a piece of fluffy white cotton inside, preparing it for the final, special [...]

“Mom, can I have some money for the Santa Shop at school?” My seven-year-old son, Jordan, asked. I sighed. As a single mom, money for non-essentials was pretty much non-existent. “Please, Mom? The Santa Shop is where all the kids go to buy Christmas presents for their families,” Jordan added hopefully. “And there’s something I [...]

Cancer. No matter the depth of your compassion, empathy or understanding, until a medical professional levels you with the word cancer, the impact is incomprehensible. A year ago this week I began treatments for throat cancer. Since I have never smoked, drank, dipped or chewed, nothing could have caught me more unaware. Treatments were physically [...]

As a member of the baton twirling squad in high school, I performed dance routines during halftime at football games, marched at pep rallies, cheered when our team ran onto the field and became pretty adept at throwing my baton into the air – even catching it. During the actual game, I screamed the appropriate [...]

My sister, Amanda, kept me in the loop when I first moved to South Carolina. She mailed me letters regularly and told me about her grades, her high school boyfriend, and how many points she scored in the basketball game. Recently, I found a letter in my attic that wasn’t quite as newsworthy. At least, [...]