“He who tells the number of the stars, calling them all by their names, heals the broken in heart, comforts their pain and sorrow.” – Psalm 147:3,4 “When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home.” […]
To Ponder
Letter: A Bar of Soap for Christmas
No, the soap wasn’t for that. So, let’s just move along here and make a clean break with what you were thinking. I opened a lovely little package tied with a bow, a gift to me from one of my wife’s sisters. It was a literal bar of soap. Tears formed instantly. My sister-in-law knew, […]
Across the Fence: Chances and Changes
Another year is about to end. It was filled with ups and downs, pretty much like a roller coaster ride. For me, it was also filled with an extreme amount of writing in order to catch up with the schedule I set myself as a novelist. I’m finally back where I wanted to be and […]
Letter: When You No Longer Have A Script
Snow White, Prince Charming, Geppetto, Grumpy and many, many other fictional fairy tale characters are ripped from the pages of every child’s bedtime reading and relocated to a fast-forwarded future where they no longer know how their plot is supposed to end. Their lives are interrupted. They no longer have a script to follow. It […]
Death By Coconut – A Dr Weirdo Short Story
I was about to start lunch on a lovely Sunday afternoon, when our hand cranked doorbell brought me to attention. Normally our buddy Dr. Weirdo (not his real name) would think nothing of stopping on a Sunday morning and chatting. It didn’t bother Rose and me too much, because he usually supplied donuts and wonderful […]
Letter: Weary World
“It needs to be standing up Grandpa!” My little granddaughter reached out her hand to right the Christmas Tree. “No. Please. Leave it down.” “Why?” I was unable to respond. Threatening tears got in my way. It’s tradition in our family on my wife’s side to share hosting responsibilities on Christmas Day. This Christmas was […]
Letter: I Am Not Free
We are, as I write this, only ten days away from a whole new year and I could not wait until then to share an updated excerpt of something I wrote as time expired six years ago. “Procul, et de ultimis finibus pretium ejus.” Writing of the wife whose worth cannot be estimated, St. Jerome’s […]
Advent Calendar December 24: Nativity Scene
Each and every year, when I have set up the Christmas tree, I also arrange our nativity scene in a special place where it gets its well-deserved visibility. My husband once bought it way before we even met – it is a classical mud people nativity scene from Spain. At first, I had to get […]
Advent Calendar December 23: Christmas Tree
There have been years when I didn’t set up a Christmas tree because I was a single and didn’t think the effort worthwhile. As soon as I was married that changed again. And our Christmas tree features the magic of all our past Christmases as grown-ups, embodied by ornaments that were crafted or purchased year […]