On this date, August 15, eight years ago, a friend of mine on Facebook alerted all within his circle of influence that history was very possibly in the making. Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners ace, was three outs away from a no-hitter. “Tune in for the top of the ninth!” Our son, then residing two hours […]
Letter: The cornerpost
We couldn’t understand where we went wrong. The gap between the ground and the bottom of the fence boards was, with every picket, incrementally increasing. And then there was the sidewalk side that was, for every foot, imperceptably sloping. How to align the two and still get to where we wanted to go? Finally, after […]
Letter: It’s titled “Forever Young” but we’re not are we
Endless summer days; picnics in the park; the annual parent (unbeaten) vs. child shortened-base-paths (for the parent’s benefit) baseball game; the first ‘whopper’ photo-op at but three years of age. They – and us along with them – grow up. Too fast. Somehow, too fast. Leaf-filtered morning sunshine gives way to the dying, but colorful, […]
Letter: When you no longer have to look where you’re going
What happened this beautiful morning, barely a ripple on the water, will probably never happen again. But what a morning, what a memory. With the oldest – and the smallest of our children – as cox, the rest of us remarked later how odd it seemed to not have to look over our shoulder. That […]
Letter: A portrait of a leader
We had gathered for our annual picnic in the park mostly to be together but also to traditionally share – in this month to remember our parent’s birthdays – our usual family lunchtime fare when as kids we were growing up: baloney sandwiches. My brother, whose birthday is this week, chewed a simple self-portrait into […]
Letter: Planted together
We weren’t sure what it was. Had to look it up. Like, way up. Turns out – eventually it’ll turn out – it’s apparently a sunflower. Just a bunch of random seeds for $1.00 all planted together in the garden space and suddenly, reaching for space, it seems like overnight, there it was. Jack and […]
Letter: Showers of blessing
The massive wooden door of the castle opened slowly as if on its own accord. The girls of the community, some from fairly impoverished dwellings – certainly in contrast to where they now stood – starred mouth agape in awe as the ‘La vie du chateau’ door responded to their shy, tentative rap of the […]
Letter: She’s Dutch
Which says a lot about her. Flowers. Beauty. Resilience. In a few days we’ll celebrate our 48th Anniversary. We’ll spend all day that special day in cancer treatment. Battling together. This past Father’s Day I received a picture from our just-learned-to-walk granddaughter. Sitting in her little white rocking chair, her smile is so big four […]
Letter: Independence Day – Pull your weight, sign your name
Early morning before the sun is even awake and not a breath of a breeze bestirs the blackness of the water, little red blinking bow lights wink through the darkness, the whooshing throb of matched oars and creaking oarlocks the only whisper that an amphibious monster has passed. Now a sport, crew once won independence. […]