Stories

In my junior year at the University of Texas in Austin, I refined the art of drinking malt liquor and learned that hurricane parties were The Best. I was from Illinois. We didn’t get hurricanes. Fierce thunderstorms and massive snows, but hurricanes? Never. Anyway, even if we could have had one, I don’t think such […]

I may have been 10 or 11 years old at the time. Sitting in the church sanctuary with my parents, listening to the pastor review the 10 Commandments, the one about “Thou shall not lie” was his particular emphasis. He told the story of a woman congregant who approached him one day and asked him

It’s been well over a month since I have written anything, let alone a post on this blog. The past weeks haven’t exactly inspired my creative juices: the continuing and worsening pandemic, the virus claiming loved ones of people I know, illness within my own family, the US elections, my ominously sick dog, Charle. In

I was driving 75 miles per hour on the interstate when I lifted my foot off the accelerator. Moving to the far right lane, I felt the car begin to slow. I had this odd sense of resignation, marked by fatigue as I steered the car towards the exit. I had no particular intention for

When I launched this website over 4 months ago, I signed up for technical support, and goodness, did I need it. I had no idea what I was doing, never mind what I was getting myself into. My learning curve on the technology was a challenging climb, notwithstanding I had to write.  Not too long

Just in timeI found you just in timeBefore you came my timeWas running low I was lostThe losing dice were tossedMy bridges all were crossedNowhere to go Do you believe in destiny; that there is hidden power believed to control what will happen to you in the future or events that will necessarily happen to

I made it through my high school years, but barely. I attended a large and nationally known high school that boasted 98% of graduates went on to college, mostly Ivy League institutions. Many of my fellow graduates were successful in areas of science, the arts, and political arenas. I’m not sure what happened to the

I was brave to travel to Scotland on my own, or so I was told. My friends, in particular, were stunned by my decision: How could you go overseas and not know a soul there? I could never do what you’re doing! Aren’t you afraid? I had no qualms over my excellent solo adventure, except

My middle brother, Bill, died of cancer on May 9, 2016, nine months after our father’s passing. The loss of my parents, Mom in 2012, and Dad in July of 2015, was rough. The loss of Bill was something altogether different. Perhaps it was because he had so many vibrant years still ahead, or maybe

When sleep eludes me, I steal out to the deck of our house to sit in the midnight coolness. After my mother died I’d watch the skies for a shooting star, her assurance that she was fine and loved me still. I would do the same after my father’s passing. I have given up the