Joining My Parents On Their Honeymoon: 82 Years Later
During August of 2013, I spent most of my waking hours sitting with Mom. She was dying. Just weeks before, in July, I had traveled from my Fresno home to her apartment in Sacramento to help celebrate her eighty-eighth birthday. We had a lovely, relaxing weekend—which included a fun visit with her older sister—and never […]
My Foolish Journey
I am a writer. I am a fool. Don’t those two sentences have similar meanings? Putting the pen to blank paper or facing a blank screen is foolish. And then, what if the revised and revised and eventually completed story—flash fiction, short story, novella, screenplay, novel—is launched into ye olde cold, cruel world for readers […]
The Last Backpack?
Was it my last backpack? Yes. No. Maybe. When reflecting on my hikes into the mountains, I confess to crafting them towards the dramatic. However, I mostly forgive myself for the forced metaphors, exaggerations, and romanticized tales. I do not lightly claim that many of the backpacks represented the best of my four decades […]
Why Hasn’t He Died Yet?
Far and away, the most comments at Hospice Matters were from those whose dying loved one didn’t die. They lingered. In 2016, I wrote Why Hasn’t He Died Yet? Responses from readers, many with heartfelt and anguished caregiving experiences, keep coming. That post, followed by a few sample comments, is posted here. Below is the […]
How Much to Pay the Pastor for a Wedding?
What to pay the pastor . . . The best man strode purposefully towards me after the wedding service. He was pale, skinny, and so young. Wearing a tuxedo that made him look like an extra in a slasher film that ended badly at a prom, he stopped in front of me. “Thanks for doing […]
Dad and Me: 10 Years Later
There is no known evidence of a Kodak moment to reinforce my mighty exploits. Whenever I’ve been asked about first childhood recollections, this is the one I confidently share.