Barbara Bruner is a writer who lives in Southern California. Explorations of family, relationships, and events past and present fuel her writing and inspire her travels. She is in full control of her emotions, anger, and otherwise.

The e-mail message was as jarring as the sound of an alarm clock on Saturday morning. Especially since I didn’t know the sender and was in no way expecting it.

I watched from my seat in the sparsely populated bleachers as the swimmers began to assemble for the first race.

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