and stretch out my legs.

When my family flies on vacation,

I sit next to Dad.

He doesn’t care if

my arms or legs touch his.

But since I’m flying alone,

I didn’t want to sit next to

someone who might throw a fit

and say a fat girl’s oozing onto their seat.

Aunt Zoey’s been booted

off a flight, forced to

walk down the exit aisle

while everyone watched.

And I’ve heard about

social media posts from

passengers who hate

to sit next to fat people.

Dad has, too.

That’s why he bought me two seats.

And I’m pretty sure

Mom doesn’t know.

DOWN IN KOKOMO

“There’s a beach song called ‘Kokomo,’

but the only waves around here

are waves of corn and soybeans

and now they’ve all been harvested,”

Viv says.

We barely take a breath,

talking nonstop during the

hour-long car ride from Indy to Kokomo.

“Next time, I’m visiting in the summer.”

I blow on my hands to defrost them.

“How does anyone live

in this cold?”

“Hot food does wonders,”

Sue says when we get to their house.

She scurries to the kitchen.

The sweet scent of

yeast rolls rising

tempts my taste buds

as she starts dinner.

I focus on a dry-erase board:

Good luck on your test today.

Love you, Mom.

Right back atcha, kiddo.

I read note after note.

And there’s not a single article

about weight loss.

That’s when I get an idea

for the refrigerator at home.

GROUNDHOG DAY

Before we go to bed,

snow like powdered sugar sprinkles

the trees.

By morning,

the branches sag under

six inches of snow

like thick vanilla icing on a cake.

“Whatcha wanna do today?” Viv asks.

“We have skis.

Wanna try them out?”

I try to imagine skiing and see

my legs ending up

twisted like a pretzel or

in the splits.

The only splits this girl wants to do

are banana splits.

I offer up another idea.

“Let’s build a snow woman!”

Snow’s not common in the Big D,

and this is the first real snow

for Viv in Indiana,

so it takes us a few tries

to figure out how

to pack the snow.

The middle ball ends up larger

than the base,

so our snow woman leans.

“She’s imperfectly perfect, like us,”

I say as we add

the finishing touches.

Cold and wet,

we take refuge inside.

Viv heats up some tomato soup

and teaches me how to make

a mean grilled cheese and

hot chocolate from scratch.

We eat while we watch

an old movie, Groundhog Day.

Phil, the weatherman, has to relive

one day until he gets it right.

February is a little over two months away,

but I know I can’t relive this day.

We got it right.

PLAY BALL

Basketball is to Indiana

as football is to Texas.

I get to watch Viv

in action as Comet.