Commentaries & Essays

I’ve always told my children, “Don’t hitchhike and don’t pick up hitchhikers.” But, in truth, from my own experience, I’ve found that hitchhiking can lead to some interesting adventures.

Economists speculate about the extent of recovery from this country’s great recession.  Since 2008, many families have faced hard times, but Charlottesville writer Mary Alice Hostetter says things were tough for some folks when she was a child, growing up on her parents’ farm in Pennsylvania.  Sometimes proof of the nation’s economic troubles would arrive at the farmhouse door.

Top entries from the 13th Annual Celebration of Reflective and Creative Writing (2015):

It’s never easy to deal with sickness and death, but nurses do it every day.  In her essay, UVA graduate student Melissa Beth Behl   explains how  and why she’s  able to cope with the stress of caring for patients.

Mother's Day provides a chance to think about our mothers and about those who came before them -- the often unsung heroes of countless families. Charlottesville writer Debby Prum remembers her grandmother -- who lived for more than a century and left her family with many amusing memories. 

My son gave me a record player for Christmas.  Here is how it works. You turn a knob to switch on the power. You place the vinyl LP onto the turntable. You lift the black lever and guide the needle to the record. The needle drops and then—miracle of miracles--you hear music.

On the other hand, turning on my television requires an advanced degree in electronic devices. How I long for the big brown wooden box of my childhood, the one with an on/off knob and a rotary dial to select the four available channels.