We were sitting around a circular table trying not to eat the bread. “You put out food that gives off a nice smell, like fresh-baked bread or soup,” said our hostess, a woman in her mid-60s who had invited the group of us to her house for a seance. “It invites the spirits in.” This […]
She works in a small office on the line where Providence meets North Providence, where she does medical billing and tries not to fall asleep. “I bartend at night, and when I first started, I could juggle all these things,” she tells me over coffee near her house. “I’m getting older now so that’s not […]
I sometimes wonder if I survived the drop. It’s a drop that never happened, but could have– Maybe it did. Years ago, I was standing on a rooftop in downtown Providence on a date that was going poorly, and the guy suggested we go out onto the roof, which seemed like a romantic strategy for […]
He played me something on his piano. “That’s not my best,” he says, “but it’s the one I like the most.” His house is on the South Side across from a little neighborhood convenience store where he shops every day. “I get the paper. I talk to the woman at the register. Sometimes she’s the […]
“He was shaking so bad I thought he was going to pass out,” she said laughing, while he nodded his head with a good-natured smile. “I was thinking, Oh no, this is not the man for me. Look how nervous he is. I will destroy this man.” I ask him what happened next. “Well,” he said, […]
I wanted to find someone as old as Providence Place. When I passed by a banner in the mall letting me know that the capitalist center I used to beg my parents to drop me off at in high school was turning 20, I knew that I had to write about it for this column. […]
She didn’t want me to write about her. Oh, don’t misunderstand me. She gave me permission, but she had no interest when I pitched my idea to her. The Queen of Providence “No, no,” she said, “That’s not me. That’s not who I am.” I assured her that I’ve gotten used to disguising the identity […]
For some of us, the year begins in September. It’s not a unanimous feeling that Providence is a college town, but something about Labor Day weekend, when the students return and the city seems to fill up a bit more, gives the impression that we still adhere to a schedule once followed by television and […]
