Merrily

linda griffin

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My grandmother taught me to tie my shoes. My mother wouldn’t or couldn’t. I don’t know why. My grandmother was stern, but she loved me. I don’t know whether my mother did or not. She never said.

Something happened after my grandmother died. I don’t know what. I remember my mother holding my hand at her funeral, and then she disappeared from my life.

I lived with strangers. Some of them were related to me. Some were not. I don’t know if any of them loved me. They never said. I suppose that’s why I am who I am.

Whoever that is.

            Merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream…

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linda griffin

retired from the San Diego Public Library to spend more time on her writing. Her work has appeared in numerous journals including Eclectica, Thema, and Avalon Literary Review. The Wild Rose Press has published ten books, including Love, Death, and the Art of Cooking and Morgan’s Landing, and a short story collection will be released in 2026.