Must-Reads:

Sister, Sister
There is No “R” in May

Two Women Posing for a Photograph

Sister, Sister – A Memoir

Man in Jacket with a Young Girl in White Shirt

I’ve been working on my memoir for the better part of 30 years, always unpublished to protect the “innocent” who starred in my life. The principals are all dead, so it’s time to begin…

Chapter 1: “The Last Bloom”
Chapter 2: “My Mother's Shoes”
Chapter 3: “Beginnings”
Chapter 4: “A Child is Born”
Chapter 5: “The Basement Stairs”
Chapter 6: “Recovered Memories”
Chapter 7: “Eeyore”
Chapter 8: “Redfeather Lakes”
Chapter 9: “The Hiding Place”
Chapter 10: “Pattern Book”
Chapter 11: “My Father's Mustache”

Young Girl Performing Dance

Chapter 12: “Daffodil Dance”
Chapter 13: “The Marble Mine”
Chapter 14: “Silence”
Chapter 15: “Silence Revisited”
Chapter 16: “Saint Ellen”
Chapter 17: “I Love You Anyway”

A Family Photo

This is the first essay I wrote about my struggles with how I felt about Ellen. It is the oldest chapter in the book, and it seems appropriate to publish it on Christmas Eve. The photo is from a later Christmas (in the 1990s) after our parents remarried; it was taken at our home in Richmond, CA, while they were visiting.

Chapter 18: “Broken Hearts and Hand-Me-Downs: A Christmas Story”

Original Collage by May Cotton © 2022

Chapter 19: “Girl Scouts”
Chapter 20: “The Flames of Me Unbraiding”
Chapter 21: “House of Cards”
Chapter 22: “Chameleon”
Chapter 23: “Sex Education”
Chapter 24: “Betrayal”

Pink Chair

Chapter 25: “Best Friends”
Chapter 26: “The Hiding Place”
Chapter 27: “Cousin Conundrum”
Chapter 28: “The Grands”
Chapter 29: “The Red Chair”
Chapter 30: “Wicked, Wicked Little Girl”
Chapter 31: “The Denver Drumstick”

Ellen

Chapter 32: “The Neighborhood”
Chapter 33: “The Summer Our World Turned Upside Down”
Chapter 34: “The Grace to Forgive”
Chapter 35: “Meeting Ellen Through Astrology”
Chapter 36: “Dreaming Ellen Whole”
Chapter 37: “Benching Jasmine”
Chapter 38: “Aftermath”
Chapter 39: “Who Is My Sister?”
Chapter 40: “Epilogue”

Chapter 1: “The Last Bloom”

I've been working on my memoir for the better part of 30 years, always unpublished to protect the "innocent" who starred in my life. The principals are all dead, so it's time to begin...

Chapter 2: “My Mother's Shoes”

Chapter 3: “Beginnings”
Chapter 4: “A Child is Born”
Chapter 5: “The Basement Stairs”

Chapter 6: “Recovered Memories”

Chapter 7: “Eeyore”

Chapter 8: “Redfeather Lakes”

Chapter 9: “The Hiding Place”

Chapter 10: “Pattern Book”

Man in Jacket with a Young Girl in White Shirt

Chapter 11: “My Father's Mustache”

Young Girl Performing Dance

Chapter 12: “Daffodil Dance”

Chapter 13: “The Marble Mine”

Chapter 14: “Silence” Chapter 15 - “Silence Revisited”

Chapter 16: “Saint Ellen”

Chapter 17: “I Love You Anyway”

A Family Photo

Chapter 18: “Broken Hearts and Hand-Me-Downs: A Christmas Story”

This is the first essay I wrote about my struggles with how I felt about Ellen. It is the oldest chapter in the book, and it seems appropriate to publish it on Christmas Eve. The photo is from a later Christmas (in the 1990s) after our parents remarried; it was taken at our home in Richmond, CA, while they were visiting.

There is No “R” in May

“Daddy and Ellen are Under the Stairs”

“Becoming May”

Fourth Grade Class Photo

“Fourth Grade”

“Daddy and Ellen are Under the Stairs”

Sketch

“Born in Seventh Grade”

I’m not sure if this belongs in “Sister, Sister” or not. I am also writing another memoir titled “There is No R in May,” and it might go in that one instead.