“Gonna be honest between you and me. When I heard what some of those boys will get with their deals, I was like, Toby, my son, don’t pack it in. Your dad and I have spent oodles of hours and money on sports. All those parents who are like, ‘My so-and-so is average, and I’m fine with that. It’s the friendships and being active that matter.’” Her pupils blisters. “Is it wrong to see a return on our investment?”
—William Auten, “Senior Night”
On the day of their son’s final soccer game, a father and mother scramble getting there in time. “Senior Night” — a short story in this month’s newsletter.
And my new novel A Long Road Home is out now.
“Going out there is all that matters.” After fifteen years in middle management, Boz Trimble is phased out by his company. Now he questions the goals and comfort he accumulated over the years and seeks an identity free from complacency and a prescribed path. As the months shift from winter into spring, Boz juggles his family’s tightening finances, opportunities disappearing as quickly as they arrive, and reversals of fortunes complicating his life. But while he searches for meaningful work and struggles to redefine himself, he deepens his relationships with his wife, children, sister, and disabled brother in ways he never planned; reconnects to his father’s days of stock car racing in the South; and wrestles with newfound courage to pursue a course not laid out.
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