No, the soap wasn’t for that. So, let’s just move along here and make a clean break with what you were thinking. I opened a lovely little package tied with a bow, a gift to me from one of my wife’s sisters. It was a literal bar of soap. Tears formed instantly. My sister-in-law knew, […]
Letter: When You No Longer Have A Script
Snow White, Prince Charming, Geppetto, Grumpy and many, many other fictional fairy tale characters are ripped from the pages of every child’s bedtime reading and relocated to a fast-forwarded future where they no longer know how their plot is supposed to end. Their lives are interrupted. They no longer have a script to follow. It […]
Letter: Weary World
“It needs to be standing up Grandpa!” My little granddaughter reached out her hand to right the Christmas Tree. “No. Please. Leave it down.” “Why?” I was unable to respond. Threatening tears got in my way. It’s tradition in our family on my wife’s side to share hosting responsibilities on Christmas Day. This Christmas was […]
Letter: I Am Not Free
We are, as I write this, only ten days away from a whole new year and I could not wait until then to share an updated excerpt of something I wrote as time expired six years ago. “Procul, et de ultimis finibus pretium ejus.” Writing of the wife whose worth cannot be estimated, St. Jerome’s […]
Letter: Wishing
Tradition suggests that if one blows a dandelion’s seeds with one breath, a wish will be granted. I have a wish, but with just days left until Christmas, dandelions are not in season. They are dormant. Like me. Normal life – delighting in her conversation, companionship in going absolutely wherever didn’t matter as long as […]
Letter: Spider-Man Gets in the Christmas Spirit
One year ago, today. It was shakedown time at Goodwill. After hours, when all the customers had gone home and the lights were turned out, and the door locked, all became quiet as a mouse. Not. There was a war in the toy section. Spider-Man had gone rogue. Santa and Frosty were commanding the wintery […]
Letter: A Message From The Heart
At exactly 8:30 a.m. every day the phone rings. The call has been triggered by a signal sent from his heart. Following his heart-valve replacement surgery, this heart message is his daily reminder to put the cuff on his arm and install the finger clip. Then it is time for his morning walk. His steps […]
Letter: “Life Slipped Through Their Fingers Unlived”
For as long as I can remember I have cherished the hours of the early morning. Whether it was in my unheated office down by the lake where I cradled a cup of coffee in my hands to warm up my fingers before returning them to the keyboard while awaiting the first winter fisherman of […]
Letter: A Gift in Grief
On this day, December 15, 2015, a story out of Boston, Massachusetts, told of a woman who, in memory of her late husband, slipped her diamond engagement band and wedding ring off her finger and slid them into the narrow slot of the little red bucket next to the bellringer for the Salvation Army. To […]