Fourteen Going on Thirty
Anyway we walk quickly because it’s cold and I say, “I’m thirty!” but I’m also fourteen and twenty-one and making all those mistakes.
Caroline (Higgins) Nyczak (’11) lives in Brooklyn, New York, where she spends the vast majority of her time teaching English Language Arts. You may also find her at barre exercise classes or playing (and losing) at bar trivia. She continues to be inspired by the energy and diversity of New York City and the beauty of that certain slant of light.
To All the Twenties I’ve Been Before
Dear twenty-seven-year-old Caroline,
Quit your job.
New York City Marathon
It’s almost enough to make you want to give up, walking home with grocery bags almost ripping.
Slices of Asphalt
“How many parking spaces do you think our apartment would take up?”
G is for Ginny Weasley
The days don’t vary much, and nobody minds.
The Positively Phototactic Beetles of East Hampton
They must have died eventually, the ones that we didn’t scoop out.
Church of the Town & Country
There was separation of church and state in the Town and Country.
My Brother in Bushwick
But what Andrew likes best about his new place are the bookstores in the neighborhood.
Tuesday Night in Omiš
We venture downtown eventually
to eat hake caught fresh that afternoon
and a pastry the waiter recommends.
Frankie works at Franklin Park on Franklin Avenue
That’s the thing about Frankie—he pours the glasses to the brim.
Vast Vocation
Living a life of purpose, meaning (fine…vocation), means remembering that we are here for more than ourselves and there are no ordinary people.
I Spent January with Yoga and the Enneagram
I did it because the studio was across the street and doing an incentive program where I got the next two months at a discount if I completed the challenge.
2018: We Made It
It gets late and pretty soon my brother is dancing on the kitchen stools to the songs he was making fun of earlier. We make mozzarella sticks and pigs in a blanket.
I’m Passionate about the Bridges in Taylor Swift Breakup Songs
I recently tried to explain heartbreak to someone who has never had their heart broken. It didn’t go well.
On Not Doing All the Cooking
“Good morning! There are pancakes!”
Before, Ninth, After
“As long as you end up married, it was a success.”
Queso Heart
I don’t write about Steve that much on this blog because it’s cheesy and annoying and also I know that love isn’t just the cheesy stuff.
An Ode to Trader Joe’s
You’ll know you’re getting close to the cashiers when someone tells you to go to the yellow cheese, the red pepper or the green grapes.
Chinese Takeout
In that apartment, we started with four and ended with two because Eliza got married which is a good thing and we love her wife but it’s still kind of sad because we love her too, you know?
A Letter to My Daughter (Should I Have One)
Wear your womanhood however you prefer. Wear it as a low-cut tank top and your short-shorts in the park, drinking lemonade.
Spring in Brooklyn (for the Twentysomethings)
We believe in the solstice spirit
the holy Prospect Park
the fellowship of friends
the prayers of all people
the rotation of the earth
and the light everlasting.
Cream Cheese and Bagels
And I walk with the man I am going to marry and my brother and Zachary who is basically my brother and we think about Ryan who was basically our brother.
Confessions of a Calorie Counter
You learn to love the foods that have nothing. Coffee. Mustard. Certain brands of hot sauce.
“Is it a Video?”
I have been so in love that all the light around me seemed white-hot. I have spent days where I only remember the smell of sunlight and skin. I have said goodbye at train stations in Europe. I have been told to not look back.
Three-Alarm Fire
The street is lined in red light
and girls with cats in cages.
Stand outside in the frigid, January air.
Good Guys vs. Bad Guys
I am baffled as I listen to TV reporters and NPR correspondents struggle to reconcile their love for someone with the terrible things that person did. We all love people who have done horrible things.
First Light
Crowds of people stand with their backs to the colors, their eyes on their phones or on the train tracks. “Turn around!” I want to say, “You’re missing it.”
Blue Monday (A Tribute to Tom Petty)
For a moment, I wondered if I should be embarrassed. Then I remembered that loving Tom Petty is not embarrassing.
Within the Veil
This is the curtain call, a standing ovation for being present. We all saw the curtain between earth and heaven rise and fall again.
Once Crossing The Hudson
The next day is exactly like the first.
We don’t check the news.
Phones die on the picnic table while we swim.
