Friday Lunch Blog

Dig in every month as our Lunch Ticket staff brings you thought-provoking personal essays and nonfiction stories in our Friday Lunch Blog. From stories about grief and loss, to tales of growing up and overcoming challenges, to celebratory pieces about love and family, these stories are shared every second Friday of the month. With these blogs, we aim to give you a glimpse into Lunch Ticket and the values we stand by for this literary publication, to empower writers and readers with the knowledge and skills to lead meaningful lives and to advance social, economic, and environmental justice. We hope you enjoy!

Drowning in Numbers: How I Almost Drowned in the Ocean and Why America Continues to Drown in Covid-19 Cases

Ashley Russ

I hadn’t made it far when I heard a train-sized roar coming from the ocean behind me. I hung from…

Words Can Carry Weight

Loumarie I Rodriguez

Do you remember when I called you late one night? I needed someone to confide in and you offered to…

Is It Time to Panic About the Climate Yet?

Amy Mills Klipstine

I admit I’m a worrywart. That’s what my mom always said, “We’re a family of worrywarts.” In reality, we’re a…

Bubbie’s Blog – Stardate 2020: Love, Fear and Zombies – Grandmothering in the Time of Corona

Karen Gaul Schulman

When I was a little girl, I climbed into my mother’s bed in the early mornings and snuggled up against…

Taking a Look at the Carnivore in the Mirror

Barbara Platts

I could feel the rubbery, nimble necks of the dead pheasants underneath my fingertips as I carried them to the…

Being There: Education in an Emergency

Ben Lewellyn-Taylor

In my first year of teaching, an entire family came to meet me…

Spinning Spooky Facts Into Fiction

Gail Vannelli

Many years ago, when cops rarely arrested teenagers for trespassing in vacant buildings, I went ghost hunting with my forever…

The CIA Believes in the Paranormal?

Faith Escoe

The government is researching what your fave ‘spiritual guru’ on instagram has been trying to sell you? And the CIA…

Circumference & Circumstance: The Cycle of Food and Insecurity

Amanda Woodard

A few years ago, I worked with a girl who said she ate ramen noodles in college so she didn’t…

On Writing About Death

Amy Mills Klipstine

I’ve been thinking about death a lot lately. Not from a macabre fascination, but more because we’ve been confronted with…

A Message from The Article You Shared on Facebook That Nobody Read

Shannon C.F. Rogers

Thanks for posting me. At least you know someone (probably) read the headline. Maybe they even read the first few…

On Becoming Real

Skyler Fontana

Perhaps nothing provides as much fulfillment in life as finding and sustaining a successful love relationship and pursuing what you…

Karens: A Cautionary Tale of How to be a Less Horrifying White Woman in America

Karen Gaul Schulman

My husband called my name. He usually calls me “Honey” or “Baby” or “Hey, You,” but this time, he used…

Pharaoh Tut’s Curse Box Caused 2020?

Faith Escoe

Maybe, it’s human instinct to look for someone or something to blame instead of accepting sometimes bad things just happen.…

Dear White Moderate, Stop Waiting on the World to Change

Amanda Woodard

Dear White Moderate, I grew up well below the poverty line;…

Tick Tock, Tick Tock – Ways to Wind Your Narrative Clock

Gail Vannelli

Eons ago, when I was seven, I pretended to choke to death when my mother lit up a cigarette near…

I Know Alone

Ben Lewellyn-Taylor

In late April, the three sisters who make up HAIM, the L.A. pop…

More than a Wedding Dress

Barbara Platts

The conversation went the same as most of ours do: One of us came at it logically and the other…

On Being Broken

Nicholas Galvez

When I was eight years old, my mother, Lucille Munera Galvez, died from breast cancer. I was coming back from…

They Hate If You’re Clever and Despise the Fool

Stephanie Teasley

It hit 120℉—122℉ in fact—a few weeks ago in my desert town. The days before and after weren’t much better:…

What a Year of Sobriety Has Taught Me

Amanda Woodard

I’m lounging on my sectional, thumb hovering over the “Deliver” button in Uber Eats. I have Feel Good on the…

The Cancer of Another Nation’s People

Franz Franta

The restaurants are closed, shelves in certain parts of the stores are empty, people seem chaotic and self-motivated, uncertainty looms,…

Life Is Like A Sauna and I’m Sweatin’ Over Here

Lisa Croce

I turned the freakish timing over and over in my mind that night, on the verge of connecting the dots,…

Is There More To Greek Mythology?

Faith Escoe

The women of ancient Greece took this story to heart, they knew that Athena had given power to someone who…

We are _, hear us ___!

Shannon C.F. Rogers

#weclapbecausewecare. New Yorkers stop and give daily thanks and gratitude for coronavirus frontline workers. In Brooklyn, at 7 pm, my neighbors…

Fathering Along

Michael Sellar

My naïve assumption was the expectation of shaping her personality, igniting her spark. Staring through the bars of her crib…

Permutations of Love: Part II

Louise Rozett

Experiencing personal tragedy against the backdrop of collective tragedy is disorienting. On April 6, I made the terrible decision to…

Postcard From The Pandemic

Stephanie Teasley

All of Adana’s therapists had been interested in her survival although that sentiment was a global curiosity. Survival stories of…

Living Through History

Barbara Platts

There’s a certain weight a person holds when they’ve been part of a monumental moment in history. That weight can…

This Post is Not About the Coronavirus

Shannon C.F. Rogers

(It's about skiing.) Skiing requires too many accessories. Don’t get me wrong, I like accessories.[...]

Worlds Apart and Interconnected-Creativity in the time of Crisis

Loumarie I. Rodriguez, Andrea Auten, Janet Rodriguez, Lisa Croce, Sen Sherman, Alisha Escobedo, Regan Humphrey

Our management team addresses interconnectivity and creativity in this time of crisis [...]

Self-Love Through A Hair Cut

Sen Kathleen

I transformed my lengthy, ash brown locks to a pixie in May 2019. I wasn’t nervous until I sat in…

They’ve Tortured and Scared You for Twenty-Odd Years

Stephanie Teasley

As I sit and write this, it’s been a few days since the government announced that our nation is officially…

Altering Perception as Survival in 2020’s Era

Franz Fanta

In today’s world of screens, scrolling and endless information, it is hard to not feel overwhelmed. Having access to global…

“A Quality, Good Life” —Defining Ableism and What It Means to Be Human

Amanda Woodard

It took me ages to graduate with my bachelor’s degree -- eight years to be exact. I kept changing my…

Why American Dirt Matters to All of Us

Janet Rodriguez

My friends and I are still reeling from the news of American Dirt, that pinche novel written by Jeanine Cummins,…

For The Kids Who Can’t Find Their Names on Keychains

Sen Kathleen

One day, when I was little, I slid into my mother's room and interrupted what was possibly a well earned…

Permutations of Love

Louise Rozett

I. Lester is a beautiful Bernese mountain dog who stops traffic—literally. People pull their cars over to ask about him.…

Lyrics Reconstructed: A Grief Mixtape

Regan Humphrey

I. August evenings Bring solemn warnings To remember to kiss the ones you love goodnight[...]

Finding Our Similarities

Barbara Platts

Americans weren’t talking to each other. At least, that’s what the news was constantly saying. It was January 2017. Trump…

What’s In a Name?

Janet Rodriguez

Our first grandchild was born at home, in a warm tub of water that soothed my daughter-in-law so much that…

My Quest For Magnetism

Lisa Croce

I feel so adult sometimes. Like I’m nailing it. Kick ass, beautiful apartment in a seriously expensive, glamorous, desired city?…

Fire-Swallowing, Love Letters, and Other Dances with Death

Regan Humphrey

I’m stalling in a secluded corner of the library on a Saturday afternoon. It’s quiet over here in the useless…

Shields Up, Red Alert, Incoming Climate Change

Stephanie Teasley

Humans learn to trust one another because they discovered the universe is bigger than our solar system and they positively…

The Next New Normal

Liz Tynes Netto

Her older sister argued the value of humans, our light and our darkness, the beauty of Shakespeare, the positive contributions…

Double Vision

A.D. Lowman

The mirror may be a simple tool of glass and metal, but its simplicity belies its true magic: reflection. That…

Before and Beyond the Moon

Janet Rodriguez

I recently read an article about Itaru Sasaki, a citizen of Japan, whose cousin died in 2010. A designer by…

Drawing the Bow / Muscle Action of an Archer (anterior view)

Susan Dorothea White

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