I write.
“I don't know what's more surprising—the aching originality of Lillibridge's prose, or how funny this story about a truly dysfunctional family manages to be. Refusing to fall into one category, Girlish is brave, unruly, and startling in its freshness.”
— Courtney Maum author of TOUCH and I AM HAVING SO MUCH FUN HERE WITHOUT YOU
Observations on Aging
Fri Apr 21 2017
The lessons we carry forward from childhood aren’t from the big discussions, but rather emerge from watching who are parents are in their day-to-day life. Read more »
Unaccompanied Minor
Thu Apr 13 2017
I had watched the girl crying on her father’s lap in the pre-boarding area. I knew there was no part of her that wanted to get on that plane, but nine- or ten-year-olds don’t get a say in such matters. View at huffingtonpost »
Faking It
Mon Apr 10 2017
When it comes to being a “pants on fire” variety liar, reputation helps. Read more »
Card Night
Sat Apr 01 2017
We played cards, using nails instead of pennies to place our bets. We called the box of nails “our nail collection” as if it were something special, searched for, and discovered like jewels from a sunken pirate ship. In the one-pound box of nails—galvanized, roofing—there were two we most coveted: one stubby runt-nail, and one extra-long one. I think we all like the shortest nail best. Read more »
Essay Notes on Attachment Disorder
Mon Mar 27 2017
“Essay Notes on Attachment Disorder” makes its deft way in the world as draft and fragment, beautiful in its brokenness, and yet seems to suggest the entire life, the only life, for now. View at americanliteraryreview »
Why I am Not Going to See the New Beauty and the Beast
Mon Mar 27 2017
Our relationship mimicked the romantic theme of “girl falls in love with a man who has an anger management problem, but their love heals his beastliness and turns him into a kind prince.” Except in my case, it didn’t work out that way. View at huffingtonpost »
Memory Dissection: A Statue, My Father, and a Camera
Thu Mar 23 2017
The bronze statue looked almost alive—a young girl, life-sized, or nearly. Her small breasts and slim hips placed her at the start of puberty, around twelve or thirteen—we were about the same age. Her mouth was open in a perfect oval. View at roarfeminist »
We Actually Do Need Another Hero
Tue Mar 21 2017
We need heroes. We need people—both alive and deceased—to inspire us, but it has to be the right fit. We need people we relate to in order to show us that we, too, can achieve greatness. View at huffingtonpost »
The Talk of a Lifetime
Mon Mar 13 2017
So how do we facilitate conversations that spark memory and move to deeper levels? By asking questions. How do we think of good questions? By using other people’s questions. (it's not laziness, it's efficiency.) Read more »
Elementary School Maps Messed Me Up For Life
Wed Mar 08 2017
I can't be the only one who screwed this whole thing up. Read more »
When Hate Crimes Hit Close to Home
Tue Mar 07 2017
I clicked through a photo gallery of vandalism at the Waad Hakolel Cemetery, where my great-grandparents, aunts, and uncles are buried. Toppled graves, defaced photos on headstones. Defaced sounds clinical, but here it is an exact word—care was taken to destroy only the faces on the mounted photos. There is no chance that such damage occurred from weather or settling earth. View at huffingtonpost »