Tiffany Chartier

1 week ago | dallasexpress.com | Tiffany Chartier

Father’s Day is often a time of gathering over a good meal and perhaps some nostalgic or homemade gifts, with many coming together to honor the impact fathers have on the family unit. The day can also bring a bittersweet pang if our father has already passed or the relationship is strained and painful. Yet, Father’s Day still holds space for reflection and even redirection in the way we view fathers and their important role. Father’s Day is observed in the United States on the third Sunday of June.

1 week ago | dallasexpress.com | Tiffany Chartier

“Dad took me in, and Mom will eventually kick me out,” he told me. I didn’t know him, but he spoke as if I had heard his stories a hundred times, maybe even lived through a few of them with him. “It was a tough age, you know,” he continued. “I left home after high school only to return in my twenties. Here I was, staying in my old room — the same one I grew up in.

2 weeks ago | dallasexpress.com | Tiffany Chartier

He wore Wranglers cinched by the smallest notch of a leather belt, with several visible, worn holes that hadn’t been necessary for a long time. When he entered the sanctuary, he took a seat in the chair in front of me, removed his ball cap, and placed it on the empty chair beside him. When it was time to stand and sing, he struggled with both — time had made his glasses thick and his body thin. I noticed the back of his shirt: Marines. The Few. The Proud.

3 weeks ago | dallasexpress.com | Tiffany Chartier

Surrounded by Believers, I smelled the devil in church last night. He was a well-groomed bully who knew enough manners to get himself beyond the threshold many, many times. Oh, how some dislike him, even if they couldn’t explain why. Others idolized him. Some felt in their guts the trouble that lingered beyond his words. I might have even liked him if I hadn’t known who he was. Thanks be to God for His protection. Forgive me, Lord, for the times I have not heeded the warnings.

1 month ago | dallasexpress.com | Tiffany Chartier

As a child, by afternoon, my ribbons would be sticky from sugar and sunshine. I would stroll into dusk in a light cotton dress, simple and sweet like lemonade. An evening bath proceeded prayers, and dreaming came easy, both day and night. I would wake up with bacon sizzling in the skillet and adventures cooking in my mind. My only distraction was my imagination, which would change the narrative as new characters appeared: Rolly pollies, turtles, frogs, dragonflies, bees, and butterflies.