Chance. Coincidence. Serendipity. Imagine that. Who would have thought? Got a just-so-happened story? If you do, chances are, there is involved a dire circumstance – or two, or three; a consequent anguish of soul of some duration; a twist, or two, in the unfolding plot. What is a love story without tragedy? Sometimes we see […]
Letter: Look Up
We were wearily trudging back to our vehicle parked somewhere ahead – too far, to hear the grandkids moaning – after an afternoon hike to the beach. We had enjoyed attempting to bomb a piece of driftwood into oblivion; clambered about among the rocks; pretended to fend off bears, snakes, and other non-existent figments of […]
Last Fishing Trip
The man was dying of cancer. That was the gloomy assessment of the caller who had called to rent one of our fishing boats. Stooped over his walker, the elderly man slowly made his way down the ramp to the dock. With the assistance of his friends, he took his place near the boat’s stern […]
Letter: The Heart of the Matter is the Heart
Three months ago, today I lost the dearest treasure on all the earth to me. My precious wife of 50 years married succumbed to her long, long battle with cancer. On the occasion of our Golden Anniversary, our dear sweet children presented us with a 1974 green – ‘it had to be green’ – Volkswagen […]
Letter: The Most Important Hour of the Day
Two days before she died – the end approaching following her long, long battle with cancer – I was reading to her from our favorite author who wrote a fictional, whimsical series of romance novels we’d come across early in our marriage, some 50 years before. She was asleep, I think, so I gently lifted […]
Letter: At a Loss
At a loss for words. At a loss for purpose. At a loss to understand. The Greek word διηπόρει (diēporei) means “to be in trouble, doubt, difficulty.” To be disquieted in mind and heart. No sense can be made of the present circumstance. Tormented. Distressed. Unsettled. Apropos is the word for today as I reflect this […]
Letter: It’s About Time
Is this what a baseball looks like – the stuffing knocked out of it – after the slugger gets ahold of an opposing team’s fastball left hanging over the center of the plate? Or, more likely, is this a baseball that a dog got ahold of, or a lawnmower chewed up as a result of […]
Letter: Hope In Grief
We had a spell of weather recently that was for us unusually warm for the spring of this year. I opened windows for ventilation and continued on about the sentimental task of sorting through boxes upon boxes of 50 years accumulation of memories my wife had carefully categorized into all manner of keepsakes. Baby pictures, […]
Letter: Three Diamonds
Our family celebrated my birthday just days ago, and for the first time in our 50 years of marriage, my wife was not there. But though she had lost her battle with cancer two months previous, she had a gift just the same. How do you prepare for the final goodbye? Except to stay very […]