Mishele Maron

Oct 31, 2024 | thesunmagazine.org | Mishele Maron

Names have been changed to protect privacy.—Ed.When I passed her doorway, I sometimes caught a glimpse of Beth sitting on her hospital bed, her body gathered into itself, all sharp knees, elbows, and cheekbones, her milk-pale skin aglow. She had shoulder-length brown hair, a smattering of caramel-colored freckles, and bright-green eyes. Beth was the leader of the girls on the inpatient eating-disorder unit, and the others huddled around her like skinny ladies-in-waiting.

Aug 21, 2023 | thesunmagazine.org | Maria Kuznetsova |Mishele Maron |John Scotto

My insomnia began just when my baby girl started sleeping through the night. Anytime my head hit the pillow, my heart pounded like a million galloping horses, and I would tremble and sweat and eventually get up and stand on our back porch to beg the gods for peace until I heard the birds chirping, inaugurating a new day, which I would spend dragging around my girl without even a modicum of rest. None of the herbs, medications, or mindfulness techniques I tried were able to move the needle.

Aug 2, 2023 | thesunmagazine.org | Mishele Maron |John Scotto |Maria Kuznetsova |Joseph Rodriguez

Old Mom Jessica Barksdale I failed at attachment. I failed at responsibility. I failed at wisdom, nurture, nature, separation, and calm. I excelled at role model, if what you wanted was wretched. I passed tired with flying colors, scored the best marks in pain. The legacy of all this is here with me now, a rubber-band ball of Can I have a do-over? No one died, but. No one is president or in jail. No one sings from the hilltops or injects fentanyl under a bridge.

Aug 1, 2023 | thesunmagazine.org | Molia Dumbleton |Leslee Goodman |Joseph Rodriguez |Mishele Maron

Della has tutoring on Tuesday nights. Once a week I leave campus early, pick her up from school, drive her to the tutor’s apartment, and sit in the car for ninety minutes. I’ve tried a couple of other arrangements, but this is the one that works. In the spring and fall, when it’s still light, I bring a two-inch stack of student essays with me. They keep me company as I wait.

Aug 1, 2023 | thesunmagazine.org | Leslee Goodman |Mishele Maron |Molia Dumbleton |Maria Kuznetsova

As part of our ongoing celebration of the magazine’s fiftieth year in print, this month’s Dog-Eared Page is an interview previously published in The Sun. — Ed. On a solo trip to Vermont several years ago I parked my car near a trailhead and hiked to the top of a small mountain. It was October, peak leaf season, and overcast. After about an hour I reached a spot where I could look out over the terrain, and as I stopped to rest, I became aware of the silence around me.