The Last Time I. . . .

After my father was dead, and after my mother could no longer live independently, the task of dealing with their property fell to me, their only child. I remember, with an ache that never left me, the days I spent alone in their home, sorting through personal papers, deciding what to keep and what to…

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A Boy Named Hog Sausage

Last Thursday, much to my and Cathy’s regret, our washing machine gave up the ghost. While we await the delivery of a new one, we’ll have to make a trip to a coin-operated laundry. It’s been a while since I’ve been in one of those, but for many years I accompanied my mother on Saturdays…

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Right Place, Right Time, Wrong Person

Friday, Cathy and I had to make a stop at our local post office. Cathy pulled into a parking space as an elderly man in the space next to ours was getting out of his Cadillac. He was wearing a gray sweatshirt and darker gray sweatpants. His walk was a shuffle. He had to take…

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Re-Entry

Cathy and I just got back from our week at the Vermont College of Fine Arts Postgraduate Writers’ Conference in Burlington, VT. Last year, due to cancelled flights, we had no choice but to drive from our home near Columbus, Ohio, to Burlington. This year, we decided we’d do it again. On the way out,…

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Reunions: A Writing Prompt

It’s been a period of reunions for Cathy and me. Last weekend, Cathy’s side of the family gathered in our native southeastern Illinois. At breakfast, on the day we drove back to Ohio, a woman approached our table. She turned out to be the girl I dated in high school before I dated Cathy. Finally,…

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The Last Time

‘Tis the season of transition. High school students are graduating and moving on to the next phases of their lives. My MFA students are doing the same. Friends are moving, some of them to distant places. Yesterday, Cathy and I hosted a “See You Later” party for one such friend. It’s a sad occasion for…

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A Beautiful Day

Cathy and I had a wonderful day—a little exercise, a good breakfast, a short road trip, a little shopping. Not a thing went haywire. A little laughter, a little conversation, a little flirting, a little of this, and a little of that. Nothing memorable outside the blessing of our time together. I mention this because…

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The Last Time

Cathy and I took advantage of the good weather today to do our outdoor winterization chores. We carried patio chairs to the basement, brought in the umbrella, covered the patio table, and cleaned out flowerpots. It always makes Cathy sad to see an empty patio, knowing as she does, it signals winter is almost here,…

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Everything Felt Different

Here we are in the fall of the year, a time that always takes me back to Sunday afternoons when my father, at ease on his day of rest, suggested we go for a ride in the country. My mother in the front seat and I in the back, he pointed his Delmont 88 down…

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Adding Texture to Our Narratives: A Writing Prompt

Let’s say you, or one of your characters, is supposed go somewhere, but it turns out, for whatever reason, you or they can’t make the trip. Maybe the travel was only a distance of a few doors down to a neighbor’s house, or maybe it was a short drive to the mall or the grocery…

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