Sam McManus

January 20, 2021

expecting nothing

I have very few expectations out of life. Well, out of general life anyway. I used to have these pie-in-the-sky yearnings that were never going to come true, that were destined to disappoint me, but I dreamed anyway. I remember everyone telling me the sky was the limit, but then I kept thinking of how … Continue reading expecting nothing

January 2, 2021

we kept singing

The ferry hit the dock softly, but its music was loud, as if to shut out all argument about its purpose for being there. “A long December, and there’s reason to believe… maybe this year will be better than the last.” We sang along as we boarded, tickets in hand, shirts proclaiming our allegiance, because … Continue reading we kept singing

December 28, 2020

settling

They met online, but that was only the setting. It could have happened anywhere—a bar, a club, a finishing school, a Turkish bath. It was going to happen somehow, somewhere, but it happened online. She was fresh from finally leaving Leon, after years of saying she would; he was startlingly single, though the women in … Continue reading settling

December 27, 2020

on the occasion of my 44th

I’m a palindrome again! I’ve waited eleven years to be able to say it, but what’s happened in those intervening years? I got a job working with produce I got a job teaching I moved from a house, to a house, to a house I celebrated two children hitting and passing the decade mark My … Continue reading on the occasion of my 44th

December 25, 2020

a different kind of christmas

When we first got together, Heidi and I made a pact: we would never leave home for Christmas. It was a simple thing, really, planned out so that we would never have to travel around from house to house on the big holiday. Of course it has come in handy ever since we had kids, … Continue reading a different kind of christmas

December 19, 2020

that time. in baltimore.

Thirteen months ago I was in Baltimore. That was a simpler time, when I could never have imagined what would come so quickly. The hotel was nice. I was on a higher floor than I would normally be comfortable with, but the view was lovely. I didn’t spend too much time in the room, though, … Continue reading that time. in baltimore.