Laura Oliver

Jan 5, 2025 | chestertownspy.org | Laura Oliver

“I have a story to tell you,” I text my friend David as I pull up in front of my house after the Washington College Lifelong Learners pitch session. We’d both just promoted classes we are teaching in January, but I don’t elaborate—I just hit “send,” then wonder if he will believe this story. David teaches a course on Near Death Experiences. It’s a fascinating class that fills to capacity. The course I’m teaching uses writing to heal grief, loss and to get unstuck.

Dec 15, 2024 | chestertownspy.org | Laura Oliver

I was in the wine store the other day not asking for help because I already know that all the least expensive wines are displayed on the lowest shelves so that you have to crouch down near the floor to read those descriptions and prices, which means you are in the way of customers who don’t have to get on the floor to buy wine. You just hunch a shoulder toward the shelf so they can brush past you in the narrow aisle like a tumbleweed on the prairie or boulder in a stream.

Nov 19, 2024 | current.org | Laura Oliver |Mike Janssen

What do you know about Guam? Read the latest international news headlines about the U.S. territory in the western Pacific Ocean, population around 173,000, and you’ll be told it’s a land of spiders and snakes, the site of a growing U.S. military presence and, with the neighboring Northern Mariana Islands, one of the Indigenous homes of the CHamoru.

Oct 20, 2024 | cambridgespy.org | Laura Oliver

A friend of mine was wondering aloud the other day whether her kids would ever appreciate all she was doing for them, and I assured her they would. “Absolutely, without a doubt!” I proclaimed, adding, “When you’re dead.” I based this on my own experience but it’s not a prediction about my own legacy. It’s that I’ve come to appreciate a relative now whom I did not love while she was alive. My paternal grandmother was perfectly nice to me, yet I didn’t like her.

Aug 18, 2024 | talbotspy.org | Laura Oliver |James Dissette

Five hours of jet lag and no air conditioning at the English Airbnb we rented in Woking last week may be why I have death on my mind, but I want you to know that I’m planning to attend my own funeral, so you better come.