Elissa Ely

Until a few weeks ago, I would have full-heartedly recommended the nearby gourmet shop’s cinnamon bread to you. I would have served you a toasted slice without butter: naked bread, nothing but proud flavor, sold only twice a week in the store…

He was a lively and informative young man—well-mannered, too, stamping his work boots on the bottom step to loosen dirt and mud. A company logo was embroidered on his shirt pocket and across the front of his baseball cap, but I didn’t…

One of the sorrows of age is growing old enough to have lost touch with others. One of the pleasures is being young enough to find them again. During the pandemic, when we all individualized our forms of escape, I began writing…