Janet Topping

Tag: Mission: Hurry Up and Wait

  • The Permission Slip That Started Everything

    I pressed the pen against the permission slip for the sex education class and wrote her name, my hand moving with the practiced confidence of someone who had memorized every curve and illegible scrawl. The “B” curved exactly as hers did, wide and looping, before dissolving into the messy chaos that passed for the rest…

  • The Evolution of a Title: Why “Mission: Hurry Up and Wait” Better Tells My Story

    When you’re writing a memoir, sometimes the story teaches you what it’s really about. The Original Vision Six months ago, I was certain my memoir would be called Songs of Silence: Growing Up in a Story Not My Own. It felt right at the time. I was thinking about the Keeper – my controlling mother…