Recess Crush The best part about being in 4th grade is RECESS!!!! Now that I am in middle school, we don’t have recess anymore. Recess was the best. I can see it now: hanging out with my best friend, running, talking with kids in my class. I really miss that. But there was one day […]
Ray Ray the retard. RAY RAY THE RETARD. Their taunts got louder as they got closer. I didn’t really understand what they meant by “retard” but I sure knew who they were directing it at – my older brother, Ray (Ray Ray) and by proxy me, as I held onto his waist while he maneuvered […]
Whoever said ‘that which does not kill you makes you stronger’ was never bullied in school. My middle and high school years were in the 80s, so technology didn’t play a role in bullying the way it does now. Of course, no one was trying to kill me; the bullies had no problem pummeling my […]
I knew this evening was a well orchestrated plan. I have an incredible memory. My husband often comments on how I can recall the smallest details. Crazy, non important details just stick with me. Yet, on this anniversary I can’t tell you where we went for dinner or what show we took my parents to. […]
A Bunch of Dots in the Sky– “So, are you guys coming with us?” Jim asked Anna, Connor, and Maya, Connor’s girlfriend, at the dinner table on December 21st, 2020. “It’s just a bunch of dots in the sky. What’s the big deal?” Connor asked. Jim replied, “Connor, it hasn’t happened for 400 years. And […]
Every Christmas Eve we dragged a tree into our living room for a fun, colorful and chaotic night of family. My father always brought Chinese Food home and sat close to my mother. Christmastime made her happy. Music rang out from the stereo as we playfully fought over placement of ornaments and location of our […]
Poinsettias: I grew up thinking that my family didn’t have Christmas traditions. We never traveled to celebrate with extended family or made frustrating phone calls where a staticky delay leaves you both speaking at the same time. My father’s family had mostly already passed on and my mother’s family was too far away to even […]
My, how things can change in the span of a year! This time last year, my family and I were at the hospital wishing, hoping, and praying that my father would survive the Sepsis and multi-system organ failure he was battling after post-surgical complications. Mom and Middle Sister took the day shifts at the hospital, […]
My Gratitude – When I think of gratitude as I approach my 69th year on this planet, I am struck by the words of the late, great actor and war hero, Harold Russell. Mr. Russell, who lost both arms in World War 2, went on to the win Best Supporting Actor for his role as […]
What Am I Thankful For? I am thankful for the health, wealth, and wisdom that I have been blessed with. The health that I maintain in spite of myself because my wife stays on top of it. The wealth because I am motivated to earn and save by the examples set from childhood by my […]