In the Footnotes

a semi-fictional account of life as a "trailing spouse"

This is a work of autofiction. I have embellished or fictionalized some details in this semi-autobiographical account; the feelings, however, are entirely true. Any opinions, stated or implied, are solely my own and do not represent the views of the U.S. government.

Psst—I recommend viewing this post in your web browser so you can easily read the footnotes. You can click “View in Web Browser” in the top righthand corner of this email to do so. Once you’re viewing in your browser, you can click on a number to jump to the corresponding footnote (and once you’ve read the footnote, click the number again to jump back to where you were reading) or hover over it with your mouse (a small reading window will appear with the text of the footnote).

MEMORANDUM

Subject: Suitability of Spouse for Future Diplomatic Assignment

This report assesses the suitability of Mrs. Samantha Childress, spouse of Mr. Nicholas Childress, to support her husband’s potential future assignments at U.S. missions overseas.