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Panda Somersault
December 1955: Time for the annual Christmas Show at the small country school in northern Indiana. Throughout the month my mother labored to make a panda bear costume for me to wear for my very small part in the pageant. It could not have been easy for her to...
Slide
The boys raced to the park. They saw the swings, but sped past to the slide, a giant on red stilts. It had sides to hold the scared kids who flew back to earth in its chute. It called them to mount up and not fret for the mom whose hands they had slipped. Scott went...
Salvation Army
If Christmas Present has a saint, it must be the Salvation Army bell ringer in front of our local grocery store. The man is a catalyst for good.
My next life
My friends and family have often heard me say: "In my next life I'm going to have thick hair and a tan." I am revising that wishful thinking in favor of having a thick skin. It would have helped me more in this one. What is your best wish for a completely happy life?
My life has been full of terrible misfortunes, most of which never happened.
Sometimes things are so much more simple than we make them out to be in our wild imaginations, we writers of our life. We think too much, analyze too much, let our minds wander...and end up concocting a woebegone story that feels real. We agonize over all of the facts...
Colored People
Emulous vs Extraordinary
Rip 'em up, tear 'em down! Some people specialize in savagery to others' reputations. They are emulous, a word that shouldn't exist, but it even has synonyms and a color: green with envy. Comparison is an anxiety-provoking habit that can never have a happy ending....
Wrong gets to be right
I shared one of my life truths recently, one counseled into shape by a pastor and friend. When I shared, the woman listening to me silently nodded, with a small, nimble smile. Acknowledgement? Recognition? Shared fate? What about you? I grew up in a household ruled by...
Post Thanksgiving Turkeys
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