“I don’t know what to do about Mother,” said Bill absently, as he perused the menu, and I was immediately at a loss. Bill and I have worked together for 20 years and I thought I was up to date on current events in his family but now I wasn’t so sure because, if memory […]
I was heading into the men’s room when a middle-aged woman with a really bad haircut approached me, smiling broadly. “I’m Jan,” she said in a friendly manner, shaking my hand. I was immediately wary; I am generally distrustful of friendly strangers and tend to treat them as though fearful they may ask me for
I was pulling weeds in the front yard when my neighbors walked by, pushing their infant daughter in a baby carriage and walking their big dog Spencer, a friendly Lab mix. I immediately got up and went to say hi to Spencer. “How’s the good boy?” I asked while Spencer wagged his tail so hard
I was heading into the men’s room when a middle-aged woman with a tragic haircut approached me. Without warning she reached out and grabbed my hand and shook it enthusiastically. “I’m Jan,” she said.
My middle sister and Judson don’t like entertaining large crowds, which is essentially any crowd larger than my sister and Judson, so when my partner and I went over last weekend for a “small” family dinner in honor of our favorite cousin from Cleveland I was surprised that their driveway was packed.
In Search of a Family Read More »
Some words are not used much anymore. Terms like “davenport” or “icebox” or “virginity” seem antiquated in the modern world; similarly the word “jalopy” both as a word and as a concept has been banished from our lexicon.
“I want no trouble.” Those are the words I would like etched on my tombstone — mainly because I spend my life avoiding all confrontation, and living in fear of socially awkward situations. In spite of this, or maybe because of it, lately trouble seems to seek me out, especially in social situations. My friend
Mercury in Retrograde Read More »
A far wiser man than I, I’m not sure if it was Plato or perhaps Willie Nelson, said, “It’s always something.” That platitude has come to define a good portion of my life, and never more so than recently when we put a new roof on the house.
It’s Always Something Read More »
Bill and I have worked closely together for ten years and we are to the point where we know the punchlines of each other’s jokes and can finish each other’s sentences. We have also gotten to the point where with one glance we know what the other is thinking.
Land of the Oompa-Loompas Read More »
The hospice nurse was competent and efficient but she was also a hoverer and I desperately wanted her to leave the room so I could be alone with my mom. I finally asked her for some privacy; she pursed her lips disapprovingly but she left Mom’s bedside without saying a word, and stood, arms folded,
“See you later, Alligator” Read More »
