Tag: childhood
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Six Word Memoirs
I run because because I’m frightened. I run because I’m being chased. Always adjusting. Always coping. Always running. Packing experiences into every open space. I wish someone could hug me. I can’t let go of impossible. You’ll leave me. I’ll leave first. © Glenn R Keller 2022, All Rights Reserved Image by Ulrike Leone from […]
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Mr. Knorra
One of the major male role models in my life was Hugh Knorra. Mr. Knorra, as I called him was my mothers boyfriend for a number of years. He was president of the NYC area local of the Tool and Die Makers Union. His office was a storefront beneath our apartment. I remember having my […]
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Ski Lift
“What the hell…stop!” I yelled at the lift attendant but he wasn’t paying attention. The day was warm and sunny and everyone was in a good mood; yucking it up with the liftie, most likely distracting him. The chair kept moving as the little girl was being dragged underneath. Her friends, giggly at first as […]
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The Witch
I don’t use the word lightly. But I am not sure how else to describe her. You’re judging, I can tell, and normally I’m with you on that. But hear me out, some people have rotten hearts. A good teacher can do a world of good in a child’s life. A bad teacher can do […]
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Thanksgiving Kindnesses…
I have a lot of memories of Thanksgiving dinners in a lot of different places, with families that were not my own. One of the strangest, and perhaps the sweetest, was when I was in military school in Virginia. The school did not completely shut down over the holiday. Most people went home, but you […]
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Mrs. Wheeler
I’m not sure what her maiden name was but it sure as hell wasn’t Wheeler. She was as Hungarian as Hungarians came but she married a guy by the name of Wheeler. He was an airplane mechanic for a huge airline and he made good money so they had a very comfortable house in Queens […]
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Late…Again
“MOM!!!! I swear we were going to be here on time. Early evening!” Shelly’s mother stared a hole in her. “Look, I know it’s hard to believe but I swear it’s true. It’s not fair! We left the movie early and everything. I missed the ending just to make you happy and now I’m gonna […]
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The Girl On The Steps
In a different life, I’d still know her. We would have gone to Kindergarten together, had the run of the neighborhood when we were old enough, Andrew Jackson High School; maybe Queens college. I started off with a picket fence, little brick house, type of existence. The picture was from 1961…the fifties really, because the […]
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Doon
Memories are more than just recalled thoughts that flow through our brains. The memories also evoke feelings, and can even excite the same senses. For instance, you can still smell the coffee brewing each morning in your grandparents kitchen. Something like that. In 1965, I was a seven year old city kid from Queens, NYC. […]
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Dad
I liked the darkness. The smell of sawdust from the game table. Blue or magenta glowing lights back-lit a wall of liquor bottles. Rough women and rougher men. No one wanted to talk to a kid. They had serious drinking to do and the world’s problems to solve. I had to entertain myself. There was always […]
Glenn Keller 