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Sean Dietrich Articles

In the Air

By SEAN DIETRICH A crowded plane. I had an aisle seat. The guy beside me was snorting. I say “snorting” because he was actually making swine-like sounds as he slept. I am a frequent flyer; I’ve heard lots of snoring. But it had been a long time since I heard anyone...
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Mother’s Love

“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 Peace.” She is a woman who is as sweet as Karo syrup. But — and I mean this respectfully — brevity is not her strong suit....
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Dancers

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 on her iPad. All by herself. This is her life.  She’s been sad lately.  “A lot of people don’t think about the...
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Ash Wednesday

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 aisles, helping random people.  I have been writing this column for a decade now. Some days it’s a struggle. Some days...
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Spring Training

Spring Training

Mar 10, 2021

By Sean Dietrich Major League Baseball spring training started today. I sat on my porch, listening to a radio. And I was cheering. I mean genuinely...

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Spring Training

About Last Night

Mar 3, 2021

By Sean Dietrich Last night, amidst the biting Michigan cold, a baby was born at 10:03 p.m. And while none of the major news outlets or camera crews...

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Spring Training

About Humans

Feb 24, 2021

By Sean Dietrich DEAR SEAN: I am 67 years old and I hate myself for not having seen my son in 30 years, and it is my fault we drifted apart, I’m to...

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Spring Training

Our Daily Redhead

Feb 17, 2021

By Sean Dietrich The email arrived this morning. The subject line read, “Bread.” The message read: “My 11-year-old granddaughter, Bella, makes bread...

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Spring Training

A Wee Little Dog

Feb 10, 2021

By Sean Dietrich A snowscape. The long Minnesota prairies were covered in powdered sugar. A lone dirt highway cut through the cotton-white...

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Spring Training

Cornflakes and Potatoes

Feb 3, 2021

By Sean Dietrich She was slight. Elderly. She had an old kitchen that was lit up with smells and colors. There is no place better than the humble...

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Spring Training

Dear America

Jan 27, 2021

By Sean Dietrich At sunrise, the Great Smoky Mountains are so majestic their beauty could kill you. So are the Rockies, and the Sierra Nevadas at...

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Spring Training

An Old Man

Jan 20, 2021

By Sean Dietrich He stands before his mirror, adjusting his collar, fixing his white hair until it’s just so. He’s thinking of her. She always took...

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Spring Training

I’ll Fly Away

Jan 13, 2021

By Sean Dietrich I thought about you this morning, Miss Margaret. When I heard the Carter Family sing “I’ll Fly Away” on the radio, you were in my...

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