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First Love LettersThe only feeling more uncomfortable than liking a girl was realizing that everyone knew that you liked her. Too late to avoid that, he thought. Samantha was the transmitter of all 6th grade intelligence. If she knew, they would all know. He slunk into his locker; his life was over. Assembly RequiredHis wife bought a desk at IKEA. “That doesn’t look like a desk,” he told her. “That looks like a really heavy cardboard box.” Undaunted, she insisted, and then she uttered the two most frightening words known to man that are not “prostate exam”: assembly required. The End of the LineThe driver had begun to turn the wheels away from the curb when his words fell upon her like angry fists. Her demand for an apology yielded a “Fuck you!” The driver again demanded an apology, announcing that she would not move the bus until she got one. A Divorce in IndiaIt is only a six-letter word, but it has such devastating potential. In a fit of violent anger, Sajid threatened to say “talaaq” thrice, thus ending their marriage under Sharia law. Her dream world shattered. She had seen Sajid’s feet of clay, yet clung to hopes of winning him over. The Glovebox TaleTommy never had a problem with girls. It was junior year of high school. He was on the swim team. There wasn’t a single week of high school, in fact, in which Tommy didn’t have at least one girl with him — or waiting to be. The Eiffel Tower at NightSomething in that deep, whispery part of her has always told her that she needed to stand beneath the Eiffel Tower, preferably at night, in the rain, the gold reflection of lights glimmering off the wet pavement. Her life to-do list had a bullet with “Eiffel Tower” after it. Letter To My DaughterDear Maya, My dream has come true. At least partially. I know you’re alive. I’m assuming you’re well and I understand you have an exceptionally loving family. This info warms my heart to its depth. These are the things I have prayed for every day for 26 years. My Guardian Angel is a Taxi DriverAmid the protesters and chants and harsh words, she walked in the clinic, thinking how sad it was that her taxi driver was more concerned about my well being than the man who helped land her there in the first place, a man she thought she would one day marry. The Frozen EmbryosIn vitro fertilization (IVF) involves extracting eggs from a woman’s ovaries. They don’t just harvest the one or two eggs that naturally ripen in the course of a menstrual cycle. You have to take fertility drugs that encourage the ovaries to produce a whole bunch. Coming of Age in the GhettoFew men can recall the instant where they took their first, tentative, mental step onto the bridge that would lead them across the yawning chasm that separates soft, carefree puberty from the onset of the hardening of eventual manhood. For him it seems like only yesterday.  |
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