Writer Ellen Morris Prewitt Blog

Hard Truths I’ve (Recently) Learned

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on August 29, 2016. Posted in General, GRIEF. 8 Comments on Hard Truths I’ve (Recently) Learned

1: You don’t get Fitbit steps by wearing walking shoes. 2: The heat index is real. 3: Toilet paper doesn’t buy itself. 4: The dog likes me best when I’m giving her a treat. 5: When I say “I don’t want to do anything today,” I mean, “I only want to do what I want to do today.” 6: I spend most days not doing what I want. 7: Doing what I want...

The Unvarnished Truth

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on August 19, 2016. Posted in GRIEF, LOVE. 14 Comments on The Unvarnished Truth

I was in the eighth grade. We had recently moved to North Carolina where we met our new Van Hecke family. One branch of the family lived in Charlotte, the same city we did. That was Daddy’s younger brother Merwin, his wife Faye, and the kids, Kelley, Michael, and Charlie. My sister and I had played in their yard; they’d visited...

Entertaining Angels Unawares

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on August 11, 2016. Posted in General, GOD, LOVE. 6 Comments on Entertaining Angels Unawares

Like a water bug on a lake, he zipped past me, twirling around the display case, flailing his skinny arms, talking to himself, entertaining himself at the T-Mobile store. He was my favorite kind of child. A frenetic, voluble young boy of five or six, the type of child who might puzzle his classmates and drive his parents to distraction. A...

What the Hell, Dentists?

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on August 3, 2016. Posted in General. 4 Comments on What the Hell, Dentists?

For all of my adult life, I’ve been flossing. Okay, okay. Not when I was in college–who needs to floss when the only thing going in your mouth is cold beer? And not when I was a young lawyer. Man, I was too busy trying to make partner to floss. And not when I was newly divorced—I gave up all reputable pursuits during that period of my life...

How to Fail at the Race Talk

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on August 2, 2016. Posted in Featured, General, GOD, HOMELESSNESS, LOVE, Racism to Reconciliation. 4 Comments on How to Fail at the Race Talk

I failed at the conference for racial justice this weekend. I gave racially tinged advice to a perfectly innocent question that had no race element to it. I mistook one African-American woman with glasses and short hair for a different African-American woman with glasses and short hair, because all African-Americans look alike to us white...

You are Not My Conservative Friend

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on July 23, 2016. Posted in General, LOVE. 22 Comments on You are Not My Conservative Friend

Two years ago, my husband and I went to Central Europe and heard the stories of those once neighbors—laughing together, eating supper, playing cards—who fell to pieces over “Serb” and “Croat” and “Muslim,” and began killing one another. We all know the stories of Germany where those who were once the piano...

Our New Surroundings

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on July 12, 2016. Posted in LOVE, Writing. 4 Comments on Our New Surroundings

We’ve finished the beach house. I told y’all about the narrative I’d created to guide the process along. I’m only gonna share one photo, or else I’ll go crazy showing you my whole house. This is a guest bedroom, which actually gives you a good idea about what the house looks like: The Memphis bedroom I need to...

A 4th Moment in Mississippi

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on July 3, 2016. Posted in GOD, Racism to Reconciliation. 10 Comments on A 4th Moment in Mississippi

In the assemble hall at Power Elementary School once a week we’d gather for sing-alongs. Our wooden chairs had squeaky black-hinged seats that flipped up when not in use. Sit too far back and, if you were a skinny, skinny child like me, the seats flipped up when in use as well. In this cavernous space with its regimented rows, I’d belt out...

Don’t Tell Me about Your Assault Rifle

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on June 15, 2016. Posted in General, GRIEF. 8 Comments on Don’t Tell Me about Your Assault Rifle

I no more want to know you like assault weapons than I want to know what kinky things you do with a porn magazine in your hand. You see, if you’ve moved past guns for self-protection into defending your right to own war weaponry, that’s a fetish. And—I’m not trying to be rude—I simply don’t need to know that about...

Jesus Hanging on the Bathroom Wall

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on June 13, 2016. Posted in LOVE, Writing. No Comments on Jesus Hanging on the Bathroom Wall

In the pouring rain, across a highway divider in an unknown town, I sit at a red light, listening to the rain thump the car. Gone are the jokes about the cheap hotel room that cut the tension while we toured the tiny downtown where trees squared the block and the rotunda stood tall. I fell in love with the sidewalks so straight, but then we...