If you walked by the Johnny Rockets on Thayer Street in the summer of 2007, you may have noticed a rather sad boy sitting at the window by himself, nursing an order of french fries. The month after my first real break-up, for lack of anything better to do with myself, I would drive to […]
If you happen to be a night owl in Providence, there are only a few select spots where you can be around others of your kind in a social setting. That’s why the proliferation of closures and adjustments that sprang up a year ago seemed to hit the hardest the first time I found myself […]
If you don’t have a car, Rhode Island is not always the easiest place to live. Over the years, I’ve spoken many times with someone who’s moved here from a place like New York or Boston where it’s possible to get everywhere you could want to go using only public transportation. Those people seem to […]
If you go over to their house on a Saturday night, he’ll fix dinner and she’ll tell you the story about how he lost the engagement ring. “He’s the type where I’m always telling him not to put something off, and he’s always putting things off, and that’s how he got himself in trouble.” When […]
When I was in high school, I used to walk up Smith Street to my dad’s office. I’d start at LaSalle Academy and make my way past the houses, law offices, gas stations and plazas. I’d pass the North Providence town line and haul my backpack almost to the end of the street. I never […]
If you took the chance to walk down Federal Hill on a cold February night a few years ago, you might have seen her showing him how to change a tire. “He wanted to go out on our first date. I knew it was Valentine’s Day, but I didn’t want to bring it up, because […]
If you love someone, it’s romantic to say that you’d stand outside in the cold for them, but when put to the test, he really was willing to freeze. “The thing you have to understand about this woman is that she’s only hot. She only ever gets hot. You touch her skin and you can […]
If you’re in the Fox Point neighborhood these days, you should know there’s somebody on the lookout for a new pod. “Dating was hard enough before you had to find someone worthy of inviting into your bunker.” He wasn’t looking for a boyfriend. Just someone he could let off some steam with while he waited […]
“I think every woman’s dated that guy. He’s– I can’t believe I dated him for as long as I did. That’s the thing. Every woman dates a guy like that, but I date them twice as long as anybody else does. That’s my problem. I don’t know when to call it. This one– He was […]
If you were driving down the street, you would have seen the people trying to help. That special kind of huddle that forms around a tragedy. A body on the ground. You would have seen the people standing around the body wondering if they could help and already knowing there was no help to give. […]