Clutching his arm as they enter the restaurant she whispers, “What beautiful yellow roses!” He smiles. “They are, aren’t they?” Indeed, there on the reservation desk stood a bouquet of yellow roses, intermixed with white baby’s breath, stunningly beautiful in a vase tied with yellow ribbon. It is their anniversary and he has requested a […]
Letter: How Do You Know If It’s Real?
Has the ever popular Volkswagen Beetle really been around since dinosaurs roamed the earth? Are telemarketers trustworthy? Members of Congress, car salespeople? The answer to all of the above is a resounding: ‘no.’ The bottom-dwellers of the 2023 Gallup poll which ranked professions based on honesty and ethics were telemarketers, members of Congress, and car […]
Letter: Paranoia And A Panegyric
A parable regarding what, better yet who, we value, as in priceless. For over 30 years he had coveted one of the most priceless pennies in the world, and he eventually spent millions to purchase it. As he accepted the penny, the crowd applauded; the TV cameras rolled; questions were asked. What will you do […]
Letter: Just One More Chapter?
There’s a tv above the gas fireplace but she’d rather have her mom read a story. There’s a comfortable chair that rocks nearby but she’d rather they be on the floor. There’s a lap of her mother’s that one would think could best provide the intimate setting by which to hear of the silly antics […]
Letter: Where and When?
This morning I typed in my search box of articles I had written “perfect storm” thinking I would find something else. But this was the picture that appeared. Two years ago, this coming April 3, Bill’s Boathouse, our place of business, burned to the ground. Our family wrote: ‘We are absolutely heartbroken. We had grand […]
Letter: Damaged In Shipping
“A holy lesson in some cardboard.” That was the assessment of Erin Mullins who is not only kin but a kindred spirit. The box labeled “fragile,” the one bearing precious gifts, the one that arrived on her porch just before Christmas was damaged. There was a hole where there shouldn’t have been one. It didn’t […]
Letter: Marriage Made In Heaven
“Heads I win, tails you lose.” Those are the rules of a game I sometimes play with groups of youth. Hand after hand will go up to win the quarter (nickel, dime, penny, whatever I have in my pocket). Nobody ever wins, only me. Some never get it. Some somewhat-grownups still don’t. On August 15, […]
Letter: When You Don’t Know What To Do
Our granddaughter peeked from behind ‘the wall’ as she awaited her part of the drama that was being reenacted in our living room. The walls of Jericho were about to come down. In the days leading up to this past Christmas, her mother had been telling the exceptional stories of biblical history that would lead […]
Letter: A Hopeless Romantic in Advancing Years
As the hourly chiming of the grandfather clock marked time, the man – his age reflected in greying temples and permanent laugh lines etched and pronounced – settled into their well-worn couch, the old leather crinkled here and there even as his eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled. And he was smiling now […]