Category
Miscellaneous
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08.01.08Why?Why? © 2008 Brooke Allen brooke@brookeallen.net www.BrookeAllen.net Originally published in International Family Magazine Someone said, "Mardi Gras starts today." Six of us shared a table for dinner at the small engineering college in Indiana. I said, "Let's go?" Four people said, "Why?" Roger said, "Why not?" Roger, who had grown up in Indiana, had only once ventured outside the state for a weekend in Chicago. That snowy February evening our friends dropped the two of us on Interstate 70. All we had was $20 and our thumbs. Our friends gave us a phone number. "Call when you've had enough of this silliness and we'll come and get ...
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12.01.07Permalink: Party TimeParty Time © 2007 Brooke Allen brooke@brookeallen.net www.BrookeAllen.net Originally published in International Family Magazine Have you ever held a party and had your first guest show up 45 minutes late? Did you have feelings of rejection and doubt? Perhaps nobody would come? Perhaps nobody likes you? Perhaps nobody ever did and they just got tired of being polite? In some cultures, the feelings of others are more important than one's own convenience. John was a recent college graduate who was a member of my trading group when we moved from New York to Tokyo in 1992. The real estate market had recently crashed and with ...
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07.01.07Past LovePast Love © 2007 Brooke Allen brooke@brookeallen.net www.BrookeAllen.net Originally published in International Family Magazine I won’t tell you her name, but I will tell you when and where it hit me. It was in Latin class during the spring semester of the eighth grade. She was beautiful and smart. What a wonderful smile. What a cheerful laugh. Blonde… blonde doesn’t hurt. Poised. Friendly. And smart… did I mention that. We shared three other classes: Advanced Math, Science and History. How could I have not noticed her before? At night, as I would go to sleep I could imagine our future life. We would study together. Tell ...
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07.01.07Permalink: Science Takes a Look at LoveScience Takes a Look at Love © 2007 Brooke Allen brooke@brookeallen.net www.BrookeAllen.net Originally published in International Family Magazine In June of 2006 I had dinner with a young newlywed couple in London, England. They had just read my story, How Grandmother Won Granddad in a Beauty Contest, in the May issue. The young bride asked me, “How do you know that you’ve met that one person out there who is just perfect for you?” I don’t know the answer, but I find the question very disturbing since it implies that there is only one perfect person yet it is likely that if you’re going ...
