Dear Mariah,

I will contact you as soon as my account is remedied.

Hopefully ere long.

I haven't been able to comment,

or reply to messages,

or to notifications,

for a long time.

That's why you haven't heard from me.

TheProse is working on it.

And God bless them.

I have missed you.

With love,

formerly @schatz; now @Petunia

German Potato Salad (repost from former @schatz account)

The grandfather on my mother's side was a cheapskate.

A real cheapskate.

One Christmas, he gave me a used paperback book.

Something like “Jimmy Plays Baseball.”

It was written for a 7 year old child, and I was considerably older than that.

Still had “5 cents” written in pencil on the first page.

No foolin'.

Asked he, “You ever read that one?”

Replied I, “No granddad. Can’t say I have. Thank you.”

“Merry Christmas.”

I hated going to visit them.

In the row house in Baltimore city, where my mother grew up.

(‘Balmer.’ ‘Balmer, Merilan.' “How you doin’ hon?”)

Me and my sister sitting on the wood floor in the living room.

Positioned dead-eyed to the manger on the mantle.

Given board games to occupy our time.

My father loved talking to him,

Leo, Leo Groeninger.

Because he was brilliant.

And he knew everything about everything.

A sedentary encyclopedia on the spectrum.

His second wife sitting dutifully next to him on the couch.

My mother sitting in a chair, the only one left in the living room.

“Maybe you kids would like to play checkers, or Parcheesi.”

"Maybe you'd like to go fuck yourself."

But he had one saving grace:

His German potato salad.

The real thing.

Made with ham fat.

Five pounds of ham fat.

Or bacon, if you didn't have any ham fat.

God damn that shit was good!

Limbus Infantum (repost from former @Schatz account)

My brother went to limbo

Stillborn and unbaptized

Faultless but Original Sin

Status unknown

A soul in liminal space

Lost between heaven and hell

Damnation spared

Salvation denied

Consigned by papal decree

Resigned to the Mercy of God

Wrenched, a mother's heart

6/19 HELP ME THEPROSE!: STILL PROBLEMS WITH ACCOUNT SOS!

My new @Petunia account still isn't working right!! I can't leave comments, or respond to Messages or Notifications. Everything is locked (i.e., I can't type anything in the box). Please oh Please help me! I have tried contacting TheProse and Mamba from my regular email account, but since it's <no reply> it doesn't go through.

I've reset passwords, everything I can think of. I have not even been able to post for a while either, but it looks like this is posting. It may be my final chance...

I even upgraded to lobby...

@Petunia

The email currently linked to this account is schatzr43@gmail.com. It's the only way I know of to be able figure this out. If you respond to me on here, I won't be able to respond back to you...

HELP ME THEPROSE!: PROBLEMS WITH ACCOUNT

I lost my account under @Schatz I guess for inactivity. I created a new one, @Petunia. Problem is I can't leave comments, and more importantly, can't respond to emails. Everything is locked (i.e., I can't nothing in the box). Please oh Please help me...

@Petunia

HELP ME THEPROSE!: PROBLEMS WITH ACCOUNT SOS!

I lost my account under @Schatz I guess for inactivity, about a month ago. I created a new one, @Petunia, to start over. Problem is I can't leave comments, or respond to Messages or Notifications. Everything is locked (i.e., I can't type anything in the box). Please oh Please help me! I have tried contacting TheProse and Mamba from my regular email account, but since it's <no reply> it doesn't go through.

I've reset passwords, everything I can think of. I have not even been able to post for a while either, but it looks like this is posting. It may be my final chance...

@Petunia