11 Comments

I mean, can you blame the two year old for eating the scented erasers?! They followed their bliss

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Hahaha! Not really.

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I'm a women of Indian descent - married to a Nebraskan man. Let me tell you the communication challenges are real - LOL. My Nebraskan MIL holds a lot of what you describe the quiet, the grit, the religious and what made me laugh the most the unimaginative cooks. Coming from a household where my mother cooks all her Indian food from scratch - I never knew how many types of casseroles could exist!!! As always - another beautiful piece. Thank you Courtney!

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Oh dang, I'm sorry on behalf of the diaspora of Nebraska rooted women. Haha! At least we don't make unnecessary small talk?!

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The brows. The thick dark brows for days. Wish I could have been there.

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Oh you. Your heart is so true. I’ve thought that since I first read your work in OnBeing. I am one of your 71 year old Midwestern matriarchs and yet can relate to your younger sensibilities. Just, thank you. So much. 💕

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Courtney's eloquence and stirring narrative provide deep inspiration. They recall my own family adventures at the New Jersey beaches of Sandy Hook and Manasquan. I really like the descriptive phrase of "emotionally ripened grandfathers", as a role that I'd like to fill with my relatives. A book that I've just finished by Evan Osnos entitled "Wildland. The Making of America's Fury" (2021), offers another perspective on life in the U.S., decidedly grim, dire and desperate. Yet. it's written in a brilliant, compelling style like Courtney's (Osnos is a staff writer for the New Yorker).

Comparing these two gifted journalists, we see a sharp contrast in the messages brought, one based on massive data about the terrible anger that now consumes our country; and Courtney's "The Examined Family" that consistently gives wonderfully concrete reasons for hope and encouragement at many levels.

Thank you, Courtney! DD

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I'm from NE people toooo! Those two paragraphs, the boon and the bust, are EXACTLY it. My stick shift brag is learning to drive stick shift in a 3/4 ton pickup. :) Loved getting my roots reflected back to me - the roots and the reflections about the roots - so truly.

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Now that's something. I would wilt in the face of a 3/4 ton pickup. But hopefully you'd be nearby to jump in and get us where we needed to go.

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Haha get a couple more NE women in the mix and we could go wherever the fuck we want. 💪😄

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Unless it's taking a nap in the middle of the day. 😬

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