Writing | Have a Read of Essays and Humor Inspired by Everyday Moments

Essays

Humor‍ ‍

Illustration of men at a cocktail party with views of New York City skyline

We Kept Looking for Reasons to Break Up

New York Times | Modern Love

He ghosted me before ghosting was even a thing.

Close-up of an adult holding a child's hand, both wearing casual clothing, in black and white.

My Daughter Has Two Dads. Here's The One Question We Wish Other Parents Asked Us

HuffPost Personal

My daughter’s not embarrassed or ashamed of our family — she’s just exhausted from all the questions she’s received over the years.

A woman with long blonde hair hugging a young boy with light brown hair against a cloudy sky background.

New York Times | Tiny Love Stories

We were sharing fries when Mom began her apology. “I lost my mind,” she said.

What Counts

Shadows of a bicycle and a person cast on sidewalk pavement.

Boys on Bicycles Holding Hands

Hippocampus Magazine

One boy’s extended his right arm, the other his left, and their hands are clasped.

A person in a navy blue suit with a white shirt and pink tie, wearing a pink rose boutonniere on the left lapel.

Parting Smile

River Teeth | Beautiful Things

I’m seeing my friend for the first time since his diagnosis, brain cancer at 43, during this visit that the vaccines made possible.

Silhouettes of two people with short hair standing close together, talking and smiling, with colorful abstract background featuring circles and soft gradient colors.

Short Reads

The double-wide stroller, the crowded dinner table, the matching holiday outfits—they are all real to us.

Twin A and Twin B

Colorful abstract painting with geometric and humanoid elements, featuring two figures with expressive faces, surrounded by vibrant colors and various symbols.

Mourning Dove

Under the Gum Tree

I consider essential questions like, “What music would the bird like to hear?”

Issue #55

A dimly lit bedroom with a bed, pillows, and a small table beside the bed with a desk lamp turned on.

All Night

The Sun | Readers Write (search on Snyder at link)

Unable to summon the words I’m gay, I said, “I want you to guess.”

A young boy with curly brown hair, wearing a white and light blue long-sleeved shirt, is smiling and clasping his hands together, lying down on his stomach on a bed with a striped sheet.

I Prayed For Years…Now I'm Done Hiding

HuffPost Personal

Trauma is a stubborn thing. It doesn’t just disappear. It shifts shape.

Cover of Pembroke Magazine issue Number Fifty-Eight featuring a stylized illustration of a stone tower with a blue mosaic face at the center, surrounded by circular orbital lines and dots on a dark background.

Two Heartbeats

Pembroke Magazine

The nurse translates the blurry monitor images that appear on my iPhone’s screen—“That’s an arm, that’s the baby’s heartbeat, that’s the baby sucking his thumb.” I can only think about the chance that, like before, our baby will vanish.

Issue #58

Black and white photo of a leafless tree in a park, with a playground structure in the foreground, and others trees and a cloudy sky in the background.

Cruelty at Recess

The Maine Review

We joined hands and sang “Ring Around the Fatso” to the tune of “Ring Around the Rosie.”

A winding road on a hillside during sunset with trees and bushes on the side, and the sun shining brightly in the horizon.

Rearview Mirror

The Good Life Review

When I hit ninety miles an hour, “Rearviewmirror” came roaring through the car’s speakers.

Black and white photo of splash of milk against a black background, with droplets flying outward.

Spilled Milk

Five Minutes

Despite the clerk’s assurance that I’d purchased enough dry ice to keep the breast milk frozen during its journey, everything is melting.

A child on a swing in a park with trees in the background, facing away from the camera, wearing a light blue shirt and jeans.

Rituals

Sweet Lit

I think about the doctor’s phone call: “At the first sonogram, there were two heartbeats. Today, there was only one.”

Close-up of a small, ripe red strawberry hanging from a stem among dried leaves and tangled stems.

Strawberries

Thin Air Magazine

In this hospital room, with its beeping machines and the mashed potatoes that my father will not touch, a fog lifts enough for me to see him.

Abstract painting featuring dark silhouettes of trees against a background of orange, pink, and white with a yellow section in the foreground. Inner circle with red background as part of the cover of an issue of Blue Earth Review.

Passage

Blue Earth Review

Your body is at the prom. But you are somewhere else. You want your body to be somewhere else too.

Issue #31

A man floating on his back in a swimming pool, wearing orange swim shorts, with his eyes closed and one arm extended towards the camera.

What I Choose Now

Multiplicity Magazine

In the early aughts, I was moved to tears by the Dove beauty ads celebrating women of all sizes.

A crowded baseball stadium, Yankee Stadium, with a baseball field and spectators in the stands.

The Last Night

The Twin Bill

I watched my father’s eyes water, his lips purse like he was holding something inside. He was shaken. A hero of his was dead.

Two young men standing on the coast in Australia with sea stacks and rocky formations in the background during sunset, which are the famed Seven Sisters.

to Dan (B1), from Brad (B2)

the grate|full project

In my mind, the sun is forever at our backs, and we are forever young.

A peaceful lake at dusk with a boat in the foreground, calm water reflecting trees and sky, and a partly cloudy sky with hints of sunset colors.

Road Trip: A Coming Out, Drifting Apart Story

The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide

The smell of death made my shame over being gay feel small and ridiculous. It was time to stop hiding.

A person turning a brass doorknob on a white door.

Stranger

Five Minutes

Every creak of the floor and tat-tat-tat of the radiator sends a jolt of fear through my body.

Cover of Shadowplay magazine, 2025 Issue 3, featuring a grayscale underground river or canyon with intricate branching patterns.

Fatherhood

Shadowplay

Years from now, I’ll remember this as the moment my hero worship of Dad began to fade.

Issue #3

Humor

Two doctors in white lab coats, one male and one female, looking at a tablet device together in a medical office.

As Your Primary Care Doctor, I’m Happy to See You When Your Symptoms Have Passed

Points in Case

Though I’d love to squeeze you in for an appointment, I am no longer seeing sick patients.

A young girl with long brown hair is playing the violin and looking at the sheet music. She is wearing an orange top.

Every Day, I Pray My 7-Year-Old Daughter Will Quit the Violin

Frazzled

It’s one thing to push her to read or do math, which might enable her to one day afford a vacation home in Aspen I can visit in retirement.

Person analyzing stock market chart on a laptop in a bright room with large windows.

I Firmly Believe That Your Silence in Response to a Dozen of My Emails Means "Yes!"

Points in Case

Did you see that our Company You’ve Never Heard Of was featured on Blog You’ve Never Heard Of?

Open dotted notebook with black pen resting on it and two black markers on the sides on a wooden surface.

Fresh Off My Record-Setting 67th Writing Webinar… A Complete List Of Writing Dos & Don’ts

Little Old Lady Comedy

You don’t want to just kill your darlings. You want to thoroughly massacre your work.

Close-up of a person wearing round sunglasses, looking at the road in the reflection of the rearview mirror.

Peekaboo, It’s Me, the Asshole Driving in Your Blindspot

Points in Case

Can you hear me singing giddy-up jingle horse back here?

Person lying down reading a book while video chatting on a laptop, with a hand pointing at the screen.

Conversation with My Therapist…After I Catch Him Texting During My Session

WryTimes

Therapist: You sound angry. Do you want to talk about that?

A young boy lying on his back in a red Radio Flyer wagon on a grassy field during golden hour, wearing pink boots and a dark outfit, with sunlight illuminating his face.

I’m Ecstatic That My Second Child Is Completely Uninterested in Me

Frazzled

It was an angelic scene made all the sweeter because it involved no further parental engagement from me whatsoever.

An old beige office telephone with a black keypad and a coiled cord, resting on a white surface.

Thank You for Calling the COVID Customer Care Hotline

WryTimes

PRESS 7 if the bottle of Xanax that your sister gave you is now empty.