They had met on the train. He was a handsome soldier on reassignment just passing through. “May I sit here?” he had asked. And so it began. Fifty-eight wonderful years of marriage eventually followed that first encounter. He has been gone some years now, and sometimes she will go to a railway station – it […]
Letter: “Going To The Garden!”
With that four word proclamation my mother would head out to pursue her greatest passion, the nurturing of beauty. No greater joy, no time better spent, no more captivated audience of one than she when surrounded by her flowers. It seemed that the closer to the earth mother was, the happier she grew. What was […]
Letter: Lonely
“Beep, beep, beep, beep ….” As Harry Nilsson listened to the incessant sound indicating a busy signal, he wrote the words to a 1968 hit song which became known for its opening line: “One is the loneliest number that you’ll ever do.” Is there any more poignant single word to describe how we sometimes feel […]
Letter: Ordinary People
On Tuesday, December 20, 2011 The New York Times Magazine ran its annual special section entitled, “The Lives They Lived.” Through social media, the magazine had put out a request to readers asking for photographs of loved ones who had passed in 2011. Hundreds of images poured in. The vast majority of those pictured were […]
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: Pearls On A Strand
We had seen it coming. What had begun as a crystal clear early morning with stars twinkling in the still dark sky, and as red and white bow lights flashed on the other rowing shells moved silently on the dark surface of the water, the morning dissolved into a thick and impenetrable fog. Not only […]
Letter: No More
No more a memory of sad days gone by. No more the sound of weeping. No more an infant who lives but a few days. No more an old man who does not complete his years. No more. The pain will not dim but rather not come to mind. Clumsy words – so inadequate to […]
Letter: A Carefully Laid Trap, Exposed By The Light Of Truth
Delicately and quietly the tiny aerial acrobat drifted in the faint night breeze. At the far reach of its pendulum swing, the eight-legged insect attached a strand. Once done, it reeled the strand in to tighten it. Then the spider crept carefully back to the beginning of the web and began to spin yet another […]
I Hate Goodbyes
I hate goodbyes, especially when – as in the case of my middle school – those goodbyes are final. Students and staff from Woodbrook Middle School have joined those of Mann Middle School in the Clover Park School District newest school Dr. Claudia Thomas Middle School. Woodbrook Middle School is no more. One day soon […]