Alexandra Vaillancourt

Dateline Boston — “Disaster in the Pacific!” It really bugs me when the media sensationalizes a tragic event. As much as I want to keep abreast of what’s happening in Japan, I don’t want to see a glow in the dark headline every five minutes; just tell me what’s happening. Last week there was an earthquake in Japan that measured 9.0 on the Richter scale, followed by a tsunami that washed away whole villages. It happened on Friday, and all weekend long I could count on up-to-date information and videos, as hard as they were to watch.

Dateline Boston — Dang Facebook. Right now I have a love/hate relationship with it. It will always have a special place in my heart; that’s how I met my S.O., the man of my dreams. I love it because I’ve reconnected with friends from all over the world, from all stages of my life. The farthest I’ve gone back is infancy.

Dateline Boston — You know that campaign slogan, “If you see something, say something”? It’s supposed to help police officers by having civilians report suspicious activity, like if you see a suitcase at the airport sitting all by itself.

Re “Back in the ER, Part 2”

Dateline Boston — I asked for another bedpan, and it took me awhile to…let go. It’s very difficult to pee in a bedpan while lying flat down. After a few minutes, I asked to have the bed raised. That helped. I was so relaxed, and I had been filled with so much saline, I kept going and going, and going like the Energizer bunny. I’m gonna be brutally honest here — the bedpan overflowed a little.

Dateline Boston —I was wheeled into a room, and a nurse and a resident asked me all sorts of questions. I told them my whole story. I was asked if I had heard anything pop during the weeks I had been moving into our new apartment. I hadn’t.

Dateline Boston —True story: I have occasional lower back pain. It’s been bad in the past; I’ve stayed home a day or two, but nothing compares to the ordeal I went through a few days ago.

Dateline Boston —When the envelope came in the mail, I waited for my S.O. to come home so he could support me when I opened it. It was the longest three hours of my life. He came home, and I opened the envelope. I took out a letter, and immediately recognized my mother’s handwriting. My hand was shaking, and my heart raced, just as it had when I received the first letter from Phyllis.

Dateline Boston — A while ago I got a strange piece of mail. It was a letter, sent the old-fashioned way. I didn’t recognize the return address; it was from a woman named Phyllis, in upstate New York.

Dateline Boston — I’m in the middle of unpacking from a move. I moved from a studio apartment, and my S.O. moved from a one-bedroom. Not huge places. It’s not like we each moved from huge houses or anything. Then where in the world, I ask, did all this stuff come from?

Dateline Boston — My S.O. and I just moved in together, into a fantastic apartment. There’s so much to write about — moving provides endless fodder for essays. Today I will tell you about the ghosts in our new shower.