Invincible Summer

It's been much, MUCH too long since I've interviewed someone here, and I'm so glad to be able to break that unfortunate cycle with a post from author Jessie Carty. I met Jessie at Queens University of Charlotte, NC where we studied our little MFAs off. A shocking reality of MFA programs is just how many people stop writing after they are done. Jessie is the exact opposite of that. Brilliantly prolific and continually creating cool new projects, she is the founding editor of Referential Magazine , has many publications under her belt and two more big ones coming up, and basically she has inspired me for years. I recently lucked upon a blog pos t she had about change and realized how very much I needed to hear more.   The Basics Name: Jessie Carty Location:   Charlotte, NC Vocation:    Teacher/Write/Editing Fun Fact About You:  I was born cross-eyed  J Where Can I Read More???   http://jessiecarty.com   Tell me about a significant change/transition/turn

This past Saturday, my Grandma Rice died. After seven years or so of Alzheimer's, and something ridiculous like two and half years of hospice (isn't that some kind of record?), she left this world for the next one. It wasn't a surprise, and I'm so grateful that she no longer has to inhabit the half-life of dementia, but it is still a loss. She had such a spirit about her: practical (she taught me how to scrub under my nails, a chore I still hate), generous in humor (even in the midst of her illness, there were flashes of her spunky self when she'd insert her ineffable wit), steadfast in her determination that all her grandchildren marry and have babies (repeatedly stating, "I'm the only one on my block who doesn't have great-grandchildren!). She flirted with my boyfriend when she met him, calling him "a doll," and refusing to let go of his hand. And she was so encouraging, declaring many times in the last decade that it was "just wonderfu