(re-run from 2022) Yesterday I went to a local library to hear two members of a Beatles cover band do one hour of lovely harmonies while they sang song after song. All the old people in the audience sang along. There were chairs for us, and the young people with small children, who didn’t think… Continue reading The Gift of Music
Category: mom
The Friend Date
(re-run) He said he had a girlfriend but that she didn’t like to dance. Here he was, out dancing again. He loved to talk up a good game with the ladies, but would he ever act on it? He’d been with the same woman for over twenty years. He had insisted that I take his… Continue reading The Friend Date
Uncle Frank and the Jar of Coins
(re-run) I grew up with three uncles: one in Colorado, another on the other side of the state, and one near my home town in Des Moines, Iowa. Uncle Frank was older than the other uncles, but since his daughter, Nina, was my age, I hardly noticed. He was married to my grandma’s younger sister. … Continue reading Uncle Frank and the Jar of Coins
The Day I Found my Voice
(re-run) When you’re in the dog house, you are in trouble. You’ve done something bad. As a child, I was never in the dog house because we didn’t have one. We didn’t even have a dog. My mother had her own strain of weird expressions that she said to us kids on a regular basis,… Continue reading The Day I Found my Voice
Hold the Crunch
(re-run) Jim earned his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He took a job with Proctor and Gamble in Cincinnati, which had just started buying up food brands, like cake mixes and peanut butter. Jim’s job was to put the crunch in the new peanut butter, Jif. One machine chopped the peanuts into… Continue reading Hold the Crunch
Queen Victoria, the Cat
(re-run) Renee already had three cats. She wasn’t looking for another. So when her daughter-in-law called and said, “Mom, you need to adopt this cat,” Renee was thinking, No way, Renee. But then she heard the kitty’s story, and she had to reconsider. Renee’s son Brian and his wife were moving to Tennessee from California… Continue reading Queen Victoria, the Cat
Government Cheese and Pinto Beans
(re-run) I was nine or ten when our mom took me and my younger siblings downtown to a place to get some free food for poor people. Our dad was out of work for six weeks. My mother was humiliated. We waited in line until it was our turn. As the worker handed Mom her… Continue reading Government Cheese and Pinto Beans
The Bad-date Picnic
(re-run) Laurie graduated college and had boomeranged back home to Seattle. She met a cute guy with horn-rimmed glasses. He invited her on a picnic at the beach. She said yes. “Have fun,” her mom said when Greg came to the house. Greg drove to a sandy spot with a view of the city. They… Continue reading The Bad-date Picnic
Best Birthday Ever
(re-run from deep into the pandemic) I was dreading the big one with no way to celebrate it during a pandemic. What would I do all day? How could I make the day different from all the other ones during the lockdown? The good news is that I didn’t have to do anything at all.… Continue reading Best Birthday Ever
Even Steven
My grandmother was a sweet lady most of the time. But once she showed her preference for grandsons over granddaughters. It was Easter time. My two sisters and I were at Grandma’s door, ready to leave. Mom was carrying our little brother. “Wait,” Grandma said. “I have some little gifts for you for Easter.” She… Continue reading Even Steven
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 