Honorable Mention
I don’t ask for Steven’s help, but it arrives. The roar of his snow blower cuts through the quiet white haze. He flings the fluff from the sidewalk in front of our house. I still don’t know his last name, or how he came to live in Jamaica Plain. A second, shriller roar answers Steven’s from the other side of our house. It’s Jay. He grew up here. He clears the bottom of our driveway. Every winter, like a confused crocus, my gratitude blooms. I sit inside my warm house, quietly loving my neighbors on both sides of the Arborway.
Kristen Paulson-Nguyen, 52 Years old,
Jamaica Plain.