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Sean Dietrich Articles

Sean of the South | Jan. 23, 2025

Snow in the South OPINION —From the archives: March 2022 “Snow?” said my wife. “Snow,” I said.“You’re joking,” she said.So I showed her the newspaper headline, which read: “Alabama Winter Storm Warning Issued: Up to 4 Inches Expected Tonight.”“Snow in Alabama,” my...
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Sean of the South | Jan. 16, 2025

Newspapers Newspapers have a smell. If you’re lucky enough to find a physical newspaper in our digital world, you’ll notice the smell first. Fresh newsprint paper. SoySeal ink. Still warm. It’s a unique scent.I grew up throwing newspapers. Not on a bicycle. My mother...
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Sean of the South – A new year with a blind dog

Jan. 1, 2025: I brought in the new year with a blind dog. She was seated beside me, wagging her butt. I think she could feel the energy in the air.   Everyone else in my house was asleep because they are — in the literary sense — massive party poopers. Thus, I was...
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Sean of the South | Jan. 2, 2025

A boyhood Christmas break OPINION — Christmas break. There were little-kid toys scattered around the house, fallen in the line of duty.A friendship bracelet kit, decimated. A loaded whoopee cushion on a chair, awaiting its next victim. A Silly Putty wad, dangling from...
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Mother’s Love

Mother’s Love

Mar 15, 2023

“I am a little old woman who lives in an assisted living facility…” her email began.  Her following message was about the length of “War and...

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Mother’s Love

Dancers

Mar 8, 2023

The little girl sits in a hospital room.  She lives here. In this bed. In this university hospital. She lives in this gown. She usually plays...

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Mother’s Love

Ash Wednesday

Mar 2, 2023

Ash Wednesday. The first day of Lent. I saw him in a Birmingham supermarket. He was young. Latino. Maybe 11 or 12. He was wandering through the...

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Mother’s Love

Good

Feb 22, 2023

By SEAN DIETRICH Just before midnight. Somewhere on the Texas prairie. A 20-year-old named Mark was driving on a two-lane highway on his way home....

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Mother’s Love

Blind Love

Feb 16, 2023

By SEAN DIETRICH She was trash. At least that’s how she was treated. She was found wandering a rural Mississippi highway. Beneath the stars. It was...

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Mother’s Love

Good Dog

Feb 8, 2023

By SEAN DIETRICH She has long red hair. Fair complexion. A high school senior. Quiet. Mild-mannered. When she speaks, her voice sounds like Locust...

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Mother’s Love

Breakfast

Feb 1, 2023

By SEAN DIETRICH I’m warning you beforehand, what I’m about to say is going to seem utterly ridiculous. Here goes: My mother once told me that I...

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Mother’s Love

Mama

Jan 25, 2023

By SEAN DIETRICH They called her Mama. Everyone at Waffle House knew her that way. Few knew her real name. To them, she was “Mama.” “She was...

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