Kicked Out For Lacking A Degree, I Let Success Speak Instead

my throat tightened with something I couldn’t name.

I mailed a postcard from Sarasota: “Thank you for writing. I’m building the life I’ve always dreamed of. If you’d like to be part of it, the only condition is respect.”

Weeks later, my mother called from their Salem landline. “Your father and I are planning to come to Florida. We were wondering if we continue reading …