Friday Lunch Weekly Blog
Dig in each week as our Lunch Ticket staff brings you thought-provoking personal essays and nonfiction stories in our Friday Lunch Weekly 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 Friday throughout the year. 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.






Big Sib, Little Sib
Adrien Kade Sdao
I was 14 when my mom told me she was pregnant. Right away, I knew it would be a little…

Invincible (Two Missed Calls)
Esteban Cajigas
It’s the eve of my mother’s heart surgery. I’m not referring…






Awakening the Unconscious Legacy [trigger warning]
Kate Carmody
I dreamt I was a sex slave. One of many, though I couldn’t…


Finding the Woman with Jasmine: A Self-Portrait
Cristina Van Orden
My husband kissed me in the middle of the night eight months…

How Roland Barthes Changed My Life
Gene Manne
My original piece for this was titled “What It Means to Be…


The Passport Nightmare
Jasper Henderson
They say that as much as the human mind can remember experiences…

#VirginiaWoolf, #Instagram, and #Feminism
E.P. Floyd
#ARoomofOnesOwn What would Virginia Woolf do? Upon…




Packing Lists and Passed-On Traits
E.P. Floyd
Thick wool hiking socks, check. Eight pairs of underwear,…




The View From 10,000 Feet
Jasper Henderson
One day when I was thirteen, I took my allowance down to Windsong…

Delusions of Grandeur
Esteban Cajigas
What's Past is Prologue The man said sorry. That's all he could…

April Brucker: International Woman of Mystery
April Brucker
It’s 8:30 a.m., and unlike me, New York City is already fully…





“We Are Connected, We Have the Same Blood”
Yvonne de la Cruz Sanchez
This morning was as close to a semi-typical morning as it…


Separated Faces (A Year in Baltimore)
Esteban Cajigas
My mother opens her eyes to a vast cloud of nothingness. Freckles…







Oversharing 101: #getoversharing
Kate Carmody
Sometimes I have a problem with oversharing. The lady next…




Not So Random Thoughts About Light, Dark and Hope
Jesus Sierra
I took BART into San Francisco to do my writing work today.…

Octavia, How do We “Shape Chaos”?
Meredith Arena
In the house I share with five people, I spearhead the vegetable…





Word Vomit: My Sacrifice to the Gods
Nikki San Pedro
Where is the most public place you’ve puked? With this year’s…
