Since the mid-1980’s, my family has been going to the same resort in Cancun, Mexico, for a week each winter.

     The place is old school; low rise, with well-manicured grounds, white stucco walls, and red tile roofs. There are lots of retirees, and many families, who re-connect from year to year and have watched each other’s children grow up and buy timeshares of their own.

Last March I was there with my husband and daughter. I was determined to write a short story, and I had a hard time settling on what to write about. Sitting beside the pool one afternoon, I watched a young father follow his toddler around the pool deck, lap after lap after lap. I remembered those days with my own daughter, and I felt a pang that I could only describe as a mixture of relief and nostalgia.  

 “Brainfreeze” was inspired by that young father. You can read it here, at Rum Punch Press.