Plain glazed in a bowl on top of trail mix (Photo courtesy Ayoung Kim) Stories for Smily are stories I have written about my mother, for my mother. The saying that real life is crazier than fiction holds true: You cannot make this stuff up! I checked the GPS for the route to Oxnard. It would…

–

Photo courtesy Marilia Castelli via Unsplash Stories for Smily are stories I have written about my mother, for my mother. The saying that real life is crazier than fiction holds true: You cannot make this stuff up! She dashes down the hallway with rollers like buoys in her hair, a sewing machine bobbing unevenly under…

–

Photo courtesy engin akyurt via Unsplash Stories for Smily are stories I have written about my mother, for my mother. The saying that real life is crazier than fiction holds true: You cannot make this stuff up! Uh-muh-ni emerged from her bedroom with a confused expression. This was not unusual. Finding me in the kitchen,…

–

Photo courtesy: Karolina Kolodziejczak via Unsplash The other morning, we had to go to UCLA medical center for uh-muh-ni’s check-up. With an early morning departure time, uh-muh-ni had woken only fifteen minutes beforehand. She was scampering around in the kitchen in staccato movements: fixing her coffee, packing fried man-doo, and grabbing a bag of tangerines…

–