I watched the little boy wiggle and waggle, as all four-year-old boys do in church and near everywhere else, no fear of God anywhere on his mind, but more afraid of missing out on the sunlight that was straining to break through the stained-glass windows, a mind trying to do the impossible math of how… Continue reading Boy in the Popeye Shirt

Over my lifetime, I have not mastered a single language, including English, my native language. I still have to go to the dictionary--these days the internet--to look up the meaning of a word, with about the same frequency as I have to go to the bathroom. At various points in my life, usually points where… Continue reading Talking Above Their Heads

As she stepped into the room, she stooped a bit from the years piled upon her shoulders like bricks on a wall, but the smile on her face was as sincere as a child's. She betrayed her years as well with her hurried speech, words tumbling out of her mouth like a spilled jar of… Continue reading Rags

Grief, if it doesn't kill you, can make you wish you were dead. Every grieving person is on life support. Grief walks through the front door uninvited, destroys the house like a drunk on a terror, and walks out the back door only when it is sure the damage can't be undone. Anthropologists define grief… Continue reading Gone, But Not Forgotten

Fortuna was not a girl you wanted to marry. Even dating her could be dangerous. Fortuna, as you might recall, was the goddess of fortune in Roman mythology. Fortuna had a pretty face that made a person want to court her. The problem was that her pretty face could turn ugly in a split second.… Continue reading The Wheel of Fortune

Thirty-five years ago a man trusted me enough to tell me his story. Now, I trust you enough to tell it to you. I break no confidence in sharing his story. In fact, the opposite probably is true. He would like you to know it. Or, at least the parts that I am going to… Continue reading The Keeper of the Story