Slice of Life- Trying to do it all

Throughout the year, Two Writing Teachers hosts the Slice of Life Story community. Everyone is welcome to share writing and comment on others in this special community. 

It's funny to me how throughout March, slices come easily, and then, the month ends, and  weekly slices are tougher to write. While I know that writing is a practice, I still have been writing every day since March 31. (Okay, almost every day.) So is it really about being in writing shape? My latest theory is this: there are too many slices throughout the week, and the pressure to choose the one to showcase is too high. I freeze. (It's a theory.)

In any case...

Last night, I wrote and unwrote a text over and over. I had to cancel a tutoring session, and I really try not to EVER do that, and I had canceled the week before, as well. I hovered over the keyboard, trying to think of the right words to explain that my friend, the same friend who I'd say with in the ER for several hours last week when we had our tutoring session, had asked me to be her ride home this week... at around the same time as our tutoring session. 

My friend is private about what's gone on, and I respect that. Even when you think there's no way for a person to be connected to another person, this world surprises me with the ways people know each other. I can't explain the scariness of the week and the relief of bringing her home and the honor I feel of her trusting me enough to ask. 

I try another explanation, starting with "I'm so sorry...." 

That's not what I want to say, though. C'mon Melanie. You can do this. 

(How is it that a simple text can be as hard as a weekly slice of life?)

I finally opt for the "less is more" approach: "is there any chance that Wednesday would work for you? Or Friday ANYTIME?"

Please cross your fingers that Wednesday is fine for my awesome little student, and also that discharge goes more smoothly than it sometimes does from a hospital. 

And also, feel free to throw out other possibilities for why slicing might be harder once a week! 

Slice of Life- An Incredible Comeback and Fifth Set

                                                           

Throughout March, the Meehans have many family chats that reference SOL posts. In late May and early June, the chats are more likely to focus on tennis and the French Open. For those of you who were watching the Frances Tiafoe- Matteo Arnaldi match last night, you know what I'm talking about. For those of you who have no idea, it was a brilliantly played match with an incredible comeback and some of the most amazing shots I've ever seen.

Whenever I watch sports with my husband, Garth, he can't help but talk to the players as if he's the coach in front of them. Last night, his volume was extra high, but the girls were in full support of that. 

At the end of the match, Arnaldi, an Italian player I'd never heard of before, got to say: 

“It was not tennis, just something else, ‌with ⁠everything we had. Someone had to win. Fortunately, it was me tonight.”

Having been down 4-1 in the fourth set, his comeback was epic. In fact, the announcers chuckled when he yelled encouragement to himself as he started his late-in-the-match comeback, saying something along the lines of he had a LONG way to go. 

In the family chat, the crew was cheering hard for Tiafoe, the only American left in the tournament, but I was more cheering the power and possibilities of overcoming expectations and comebacks. What a great message about mindset, belief, and perseverance happened in that tennis match yesterday! I hope Arnaldi is eating lots of protein and pounding electrolytes for tomorrow. I'll be cheering for him! 

Slice of Life 2026: 31 of 31- A Writing Family

In March, Two Writing Teachers hosts the Slice of Life Story Challenge. Everyone is welcome to share writing and comment on others in this special community. 

Each year, March 31 hits me with a sense of relief, a feeling of pride, deeper connections, and also a bereftness. I love the daily routine of not only writing, but also living on alert for possible slices. Each year, I've tried to duplicate the awareness of daily moments that exists for me in March. Over the months in between, that awareness fades. Maybe I'll put reminders into my calendar this year to notice moments now and then, to harvest the slices that emerge from my daily life and interactions. Those moments are always there, and I have the documentation of them within many years of daily March slicing. My new life of managing my own business offers me a little more time to pause and appreciate slice-worthy moments. My word for 2026 is laugh, and for anyone thinking about taking on a one little word, I'm loving it as a focus. Laughing begets laughing. It's a fun word to live with! I think that more of my 2026 slices have included laugh-worthy moments. I love that. 

I have also loved being a part of several small communities over the month. Thursday night group, I wish I had been there every time! You're amazing, and it has been special to get to know you through conversations and not only through posting and commenting. 

I've gotten to experience slicing differently at the end of this month. Many of you know that my daughter Larkin, the beautiful face on the right, has been slicing since she was fifteen. When she first started, she was attending school in Spain. (Long story). And then, when she was slicing, she was in college. Since graduating from college, she has not lived home, so we have not been in the same slicing space during the many months of March. You might also know Clare, the beautiful face on the left, who has lived home for about a year in between work and what-nextness. I get her for a few more months before she starts her PhD program in August. She has also been a daily slicer. Julia, who was taking a shower at the time of the picture, also has tapped in for some March slicing, but she dwindled a bit. As a medical student, she gets a pass! 

In a serendipitous fashion, all four of my daughters are home this week. We snapped this picture last night after Clare finished her 30th slice sitting on the couch to my right, and Larkin finished her slice on the chair to my left. I kind of could guess what they were both writing about, but it's so fun to read their interpretations and asides on moments we've shared. We all talk to each other a lot, and we know the stories that could be slices ahead of time. "There's my slice for the day," is a regular refrain in March. But somehow, writing and reading and commenting, both in person and through the blogs, provides insights and leads to other conversations. We're a family who writes. 

Julia's boyfriend is coming today, and he will meet Clare, Cecily, and Garth for the first time. We thought about pranking Omar with something along the lines of saying the Pledge of Allegiance before dinner. After bantering about some ideas, we landed on having notebooks and pens at the table for family writing time as part of our dinnertime rituals. We may do that. And it would probably be funny. I'd laugh, and that's my 2026 word. 

And it's also what we do. We're a family who writes. 

Thanks to all who have written with me, commented, and shared their stories during the SOLSC of 2026. I look forward to Tuesdays and to future months of March. 

Slice of Life 2026: 30 of 31- Buzzer beater

 In March, Two Writing Teachers hosts the Slice of Life Story Challenge. Everyone is welcome to share writing and comment on others in this special community. 

For those of you who don't know, I live in Connecticut. For as long as I can remember, I have cheered for UConn basketball players. Watching games is a core memory from my dating life with my now-husband, and I was a fan before out first date. We started dating in 1992, so... a while.

This is a rare and wonderful weekend when all four of our daughters are home. One is a Michigan graduate, one is a current Michigan medical student, and one is a UConn student. So our schedule had to revolve around:

• 1:00-UConn Women's game
• 2:15-Michigan Men's game
• 5:00- UConn Men's game

-------Spoiler alert: We went 3 for 3 in our house today! ------------

But before that happened, my mother arrived at the house at 5, just as Julia, Larkin, and I pulled in. This moment was going to be my slice for today until the end of the UConn men's game. Maybe some other day. 

In any case, she arrived, and I started dinner preparation which was a great distraction since the rest of the family was paying close attention to UConn getting slammed by Duke. At one point they were down 19. Ugh. 

My plan, and I was sticking to it, was that we would grill the swordfish and burgers at halftime, and we would all eat dinner while watching the second half. 

------------You've had the spoiler alert in case you don't already know and you have not gotten to see the unbelievable shot that Braylon Mullins made with .4 seconds left. ---------------

As the second half progressed the game got closer and closer. UConn continued to miss shots, but their defense was solid, and they made enough shots to whittle at Duke's lead. My phone started to light up as the minutes ticked off. I looked at one of the texts, and I said out loud, "HOW could she be texting me right now?"  And then, I read the text, and it was about the game. What a great reason! 

There were many more! I guess I forget how many people know what we'd be doing tonight! 

All of us were locked in, maybe even holding hands in the final seconds, ready to offset our moods with a great array of desserts, and then.... from the kid who had missed almost every other shot of the night.... came the shot of the year. Maybe of the decade. A shot that people will talk about for many years to come. 

We cheered. We jumped up. And someone stepped on the remote. And hit the power button. The shot went swish, and the TV went black. 

"What happened?" 

"Who did that?" 

"Turn it back on!"

"Did that really happen?"

The chaos that had been mounting was now complete, except the noise that was now flooding our house was only ours since the television was silent. 

One of my goals for 2026 is to learn how to use our television's remote better, and it takes a long time to reboot and get to the channel you're looking for, so the get-it-back-on movement took a while. By the time we were back on the game, I think they were on the 27th or 28th replay of Mullins' shot. 

It really happened. Regardless of the outcome, I was celebrating my family and the joy I feel with them all in hugging proximity, but wow! Let's go Huskies! And let's go Blue. What a fun day!

Slice of Life 2026: 29 of 31- Frozen shrimp

  In March, Two Writing Teachers hosts the Slice of Life Story Challenge. Everyone is welcome to share writing and comment on others in this special community. 

I knew I'd be cutting things close. Yesterday was one of those days when everything had to be on time, I needed a back-up plan in case it didn't, and I had to have things prepped for efficiency. With tutoring sessions, airport pickups, a pickleball tournament, and nine for dinner, the error margin was small. 

The day began with a message from Delta. 

Okay, I could handle that. It just meant that I went to the grocery store beforehand. My plan was to get shrimp at the Big Y. However, they only had the easy peel shrimp that I'd need in frozen form. I had decided that those were going to be worth the extra cost today given the schedule, and I really didn't want to deal with thawing shrimp. 

Okay, no problem. I'd stop at Whole Foods on my way home. They'd have the shrimp I wanted. Fortunately, it was cold enough that I could safely leave the ice cream in the car. (One of the few times you'll hear me say it's good that it's cold outside.)

"I need four pounds of these," I said, pointing to the lovely, unfrozen, easy-to-peel shrimp. 

The fish man shook his head at me. 

"I'll have to give you frozen ones," he said. He then went on to explain how to thaw shrimp. (I had a pretty good idea of what to do, but he was too serious and invested in his explanation to interrupt him. Good thing it was cold for that ice cream in my car.)

And so, the frozen shrimp went into the refrigerator, I did the all the prep I could do for the rest of dinner, and continued with my schedule-bound day. 

The schedule again went awry when matches backed up. And then there was the problem that my partner and I made the playoffs, and then the finals, so we had to stay for the medals. Okay, high fives to us (higher fives if we'd won the finals and came in first instead of second, but whatever...). I texted Clare and Garth for back up. 

__________________________

Aside and Important Background Information: One thing you need to know about me is that I am often overcoming a tendency to buy too little food, especially seafood, since leftovers tend to be left until thrown away. One of my four daughters regularly ask me, especially when boys are invited for dinner, "Did you get enough protein?"

__________________________

When I walked into the kitchen, Clare had things going in the kitchen. She's pretty awesome that way. But when I looked in the sink and the colander of shrimp, there were not many shrimp. The pile seemed small. 

"Where did those shrimp come from," I asked. 

"The freezer," Clare said. 

"Uh oh," I said. "You used the two-pound bag?" (I keep frozen shrimp on-hand for quick weekday meals.)

I opened the refrigerator-- the logical place for the shrimp that needed defrosting-- and pulled out my big bag of still-frozen shrimp. 

I have zero doubt that there were disparaging comments made about how I was going to starve all the dinner guests before I got home to the plenty-of-food rescue, and now there were some disparaging comments about my communication skills of which I could not defend. I tried for a moment to explain that I'd written my text in between matches with people talking to me and pressuring me to get to the court... but, still. I admit. I was not clear about the location of the shrimp. 

Fortunately, we had a good laugh, the frozen shrimp from the refrigerator defrosted, team-make-dinner made dinner, everyone had plenty to eat, and...

We have a lot of leftovers. This is a great recipe for anyone looking for a healthy and quick-to=prepare meal for shrimp lovers. 

Slice of Life 2026: 28 of 31- Procrastination

 In March, Two Writing Teachers hosts the Slice of Life Story Challenge. Everyone is welcome to share writing and comment on others in this special community. 

What a lot I can get done when I have a writing project to work on! 

I had an aggressive to-do list at the start of the day. It went something like this:

• clean the bathrooms (like REALLY clean)
• Change sheets
• Check and edit podcast
• Write and comment for SOLSC
• laundry- lots of it
• grocery store (Trader Joes which is a solid 30 minute ride)
• write a student report
• about ten other things. Maybe more... 
• revise chapters in my novel

So, I got everything done and more, except one thing. I also volunteered for a couple of hours, worked out, and watched basketball. I wound yarn, made cookie batter, and walked the dogs. 

If I ever want to make sure that my house is clean, the laundry is done, and any other hanging-over-my-head chores are completed, I should remember that a sure-fire way to get those tasks crossed off is to put some butt-in-the-chair writing work on the list.

Maybe I'll work on those chapters tomorrow. Feel free to ask me. 

Slice of Life 2026: 27 of 31- Safe Space

 In March, Two Writing Teachers hosts the Slice of Life Story Challenge. Everyone is welcome to share writing and comment on others in this special community. 

Over the last several weeks, I have gotten to teach a writing class at the high school, and I've gotten to do it in partnership with my book's co-author. A grant is paying for the class, and I'm not sure how students found out about it... bottom line is we have three to five kids each week, and they are... awesome. We have not taught much because mostly, these kids have just wanted to write. We've brought good food. Appealing notebooks. Fun pens. Responsive mentor texts. And ideas for them to try stemming from what they shared. 

Next week is the school's equity week, and we asked the students to work on something they might want to share. L. had a piece ready to go about the challenges of being an American-born Chinese person. S. had been working on a piece about her name which she has shortened when she's at school because it's hard to pronounce, but at home, she is still her name. She's developed her work into a poem about what's lost by fitting in. 

Yesterday, three of the writers were on a roll and ready to go-- in that just-let-us-write state of being. When we asked if they needed anything in the way of support from us, they were very clear: no. 

But, E. was stuck. She's a kid who has moved a lot, and she loved and related to Yard Sale by Eve Bunting. Maggie and I huddled with E. to hear about how it was going, what she was thinking, and how we could support her. 

"I'm not liking the words in it, and how my piece is sounding," she said. "Do you think I could do something with animation to tell my story?"

We had said to the kids early on that our answer would almost always be yes. 

"Yes," we said. 

And then she went on to describe what she was thinking. She had a vision, and she wanted to share parts of her life both with avatars and images. Would that be okay. 

"Yes," we said. 

I wish I could remember exactly how she said that she wanted to include being gay in her piece. When she shared this part of her identity, there was a nervous laugh or hitch or something that I can't quite name. I pointed to Maggie. 

"Me too," Maggie said. "I have a wife and a house and two sons..." She went on, reflecting on what it would have been like for her in her life if she had been confident enough to come out in high school. And I could sit and watch E.'s body language change from nervousness to total comfort. 

It's a moment that I wish I could read others' perspectives about, and who knows? Maybe I can one day. For the time being, it was incredible for me to watch the power of having a young person's identity reflected back to them.