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by Alice Benson)
Porch Therapy
The call of the porch zinged through Monica’s blood. It pulled her up and moved her quickly through the shelter to her favorite room at the front of the house, a warm and comforting three-season porch where women gathered and she could smoke. Three residents were already there, curled up with co?ee, sodas, candy, and their own cigarettes. Monica loved sitting with the women on the porch. The conversations were sometimes disjointed, but always interesting and usually supportive. They called it “Porch Therapy.” As a counselor in a domestic violence shelter, Monica found that the porch chats were often more productive than her formal sessions. The air was hazy when Monica walked through the door, so she ?ipped a switch and turned on the ceiling fan. The grandfather of all ceiling fans, it groaned a little but was able to swirl the air. Years of smoke smudged the porch’s
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