When my parents made me go to church in Lakewood, I headed out with a smile, and ended up on the edge of a nearby lake that was an easy walk to church . . . if one wanted to actually go to church. A number of times one of my classmates would join me. […]
Transformation by Leather
Years ago, a stand-up shirt or jacket collar meant you were cool . . . throw in sunglasses and a motorcycle and you had the complete set. Roberto was an Elvis wanna-be. He wanted to be cool. He wanted people to admire him. He wanted to be a star. He wanted to be looked up […]
Jennifer of the Backward Glance
I don’t know why it was or what it was . . . or still does, to make me look at Jennifer after’s she’s walked past. The smell of her perfume has done this for me and a certain look or smile has captured my attention for a minute or so from other women, but […]
Simon – Blue Eyes and More, with Help
Blue eyes, good teeth, tall, and blonde hair that stays combed. Don’t many men want to grow up that way? Throw in the latest clothes and a convertible sports car and you’ve got it all. Simon was my best friend in high school and college. Those were great days. Both he and I didn’t measure […]
Shrewd Lorna’s Salon
“Style and Grace” is now available from Lorna. She grew up with ideas, but things weren’t looking too good for her a couple of years ago on Tacoma’s Martin Luther King Jr Way, but with all the new high rises in almost every block in what used to be K Street and its surroundings, more […]
St. Joan of Grocery Clerks
Joan was an independent young woman. She liked to go shopping early at her favorite grocery store. They had fish at decent prices, well “decent” when they had been offered for sale at a great price when various pieces of fish were reduced in price for quicker sales. She had been sold on nice looking […]
My Mom’s Friend, Maybell
I met Maybell a short time after my mother died. They were friends and had worked together in the St. Vinnie’s Thrift Store for years. Maybelle also had a great sense of concern for others and was always ready to lend a hand. She had kind of a southern drawl, but I think perhaps she […]
The Red-haired King?
Ruadhan is an Irish boy’s name that means “little red-haired one”. It is a diminutive of the Irish word Ruadh, which means “red”. Ruadhan is sometimes anglicized as Rowan. This name means “red-haired king,” as in the red colored hair of foxes today in Clan Dálaigh, County Donegal. At one point in his life, Jack, […]
The Mean Man Who Wasn’t
I’ve known Jefferson Brown for ages. Sometimes people remain in your memory for years. Jefferson was one of those people who only act tough when they are needed. He was part black, part white, and part Chinese with perhaps something even more in his heritage. I met him when he was painting a house with […]