Emily Berger
Bio
Writer, editor, artist, dog mom, lover of chocolate and all things humor.
Stories (11)
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Table for One
I’m sitting on the wooden bench. The window has been haphazardly pushed open, my right arm dangling over the side, timidly testing the strength of the wind. The air feels like it’s been filled with ice cubes to dull its warmth, and snapshots of grimy bar windows and Cajun spice-filled restaurants flicker by. The streetcar driver calls out “Poydras,” and I inch closer to the unshaven man delicately balancing a po-boy in his lap to make room for the incoming passengers.
By Emily Berger4 years ago in Humans
Reading Is a Superpower
Like so many millions of other people out there, I’ve always loved reading. Books were a lifeline that I clung to when I was little. My mom and dad divorced when I was a toddler, so every time I was shuffled back and forth between my parents' houses and their drastically different worlds, my books were what comforted me and felt familiar. I hid in stories; my best friends were characters in novels, and I’d rather sit in the closet and read than go to the park or out to eat. I learned how to read very early on thanks to my very dedicated mother who would read to me for hours and hours and hours, and I continued to love books so much that I decided to study them.
By Emily Berger5 years ago in Education
Lessons Learned
My brother and I's childhood consisted of one constant: our mother. After our dad left when I was a toddler and my brother was a newborn, our years were a whirlwind of new homes and new families. There were new people to meet, new rules to adjust to, and new schools to navigate. I have had three father figures and a total of six ex-siblings, and this resulted in a fear of abandonment and a distrust of people who promise they'll stick around. But my mother has always made it clear that the three of us - me, my brother, and my mom - are a package deal. “We’re the three musketeers,” she says. “We stick together, no matter what.”
By Emily Berger5 years ago in Families
Napoleon the Conqueror (of Hearts)
This was the text exchange between me and my boyfriend Addison four years ago when he discovered Napoleon. He had found the dog (quite literally, on the street) while visiting a small town called Beersheba in Tennessee where his family stayed every 4th of July, and I was visiting my own family in Richmond.
By Emily Berger5 years ago in Petlife
Unconscious-Me Is a Big Spender
As a very part-time artist myself, my Instagram recommendations mostly consist of other artist accounts showcasing their work: handmade pottery, embroidery, painting, paper collages, glass blowing, woodworking….you name it. I will also admit that there are a handful of choreographed dances and pictures of Harry Styles mixed in there. But the art is my favorite, and I spend hours scrolling through it, discovering Etsy pages that offer the most creative and unique items.
By Emily Berger5 years ago in Journal
"You Bought What?"
It has been a real year. I have genuinely never spent more time aimlessly staring at things on my phone that I want to buy but don’t need while I sit on my couch doing absolutely nothing. And if you’re feeling slightly guilty about the unnecessary items you purchased while scrolling through Instagram for seven hours straight, truly believing they would fill your life with all the joy it had been missing, don’t worry! You’re not alone.
By Emily Berger5 years ago in Styled
New Orleans, I Love You
I never knew it was possible to fall in love with a place like you fall in love with a person. I ended up there randomly. With my college decision due the next day, my mother and I drove from my hometown of Richmond, VA, all the way to New Orleans. 16 hours, nonstop. The trip was a spur-of-the-moment decision and required my grandmother to come stay with my siblings while we went on our adventure. "I don't want you to have any regrets," my mother had said, "so we're going to explore every single option." We didn't have money to break up the trip and stay at a hotel, so we showed up to the city in the same clothes we left in, bleary eyed but excited.
By Emily Berger5 years ago in Wander
