Browsing Category: Journal Pages

        It is just he and I for the eve: his brother at a sleepover, sister and mom at volleyball in the city.  We make a special time of it.  We go somewhere for dinner to watch football while we eat.  Our (my) first choice was closed, so we go where he asks and chooses, Pizza […]

               He is edgy, quick to anger.  We speak and explain control measures, our reasons and agrees, then when the limit’s reached—he asks for more again.                It’s only a screen, virtual world and games, but it messes with his mind.  He’s the same with his phone (as I often am, too, as well).  His […]

               I begin my morning writing letters.                 Not knowing what else to write, I start with gratitudes.                Last night, my daughter gave me a hug.  I didn’t know I needed it—but she did, and she helped me feel loved and better.                This morning, in letter, I return the love.                All Christmas […]

        Second day’s end to a new year, I’ve yet to make a resolution.  Is it laziness?  Indifference?  Is it necessary?         I sit on the porch smoking what’s left of a cigar from yesterday.  I’m frugal, and sitting on porch in the winter cool and moisture, it burns better today than day before.  Like me, […]

               “’You like to tell true stories, don’t you?’ he asked, and I answered, ‘Yes, I like to tell stories that are true.’                Then he asked, ‘After you have finished your true stories sometime, why don’t you make up a story and the people to go with it?’                ‘Only then will you understand […]

               “Dad, can we go for a ride?”                “Dad, can we play catch?”                “Dad, can we play ping pong?”                “Dad, can we build a fire?”                One day, the questions will end.  Love him, and them, while they’re still there—and we are wanted.

                New Year’s Day, late morning, my daughter fills a water bottle from kitchen sink.  Workout clothes, her hair in a ponytail, “I’m going to get a workout in,” she tells me.  “I’m doing Seventy-Five Hard,” she shares on.  “Have you ever heard of it?”                “I believe I have.”                “It’s seventy-five days when […]

               Today is the Feast of the Holy Family.  It is a mass and celebration forever special to me for it is the first mass and moment when I felt, received, direct engagement of the Holy Spirit and God through reading of a scripture.                I sat in pew beside my father, and as it […]

        I sit in the dark smoking cigar.  There are Christmas trees of crab trap boxes lit at the end of docks.  A soft wind blows ringing wind chimes in match, and there are sounds of cars and dogs barking in the distance.         I wear a heavy flannel, feel the wind through […]