Tennessee True Stories Essay Contest

FROM THE CHAPTER 16 ARCHIVE: I arrived in Zagreb in the evening of Thursday, April 15, 1993 — the first step of a planned three-day business trip. I expected to return home to Bosnia as soon as it was done.

Metal buckets evoke a feeling in me that’s hard to shake. Whenever I see one, a memory comes rushing back.

James was the only person I’d talked to in the first week of moving to Nashville, outside of my husband and the local coffee shop guy. We would be spending many hours together, just the two of us in this little car. I wanted him to like me.