Tag: memoir
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The Pub Around The Corner
It was a small place, right off campus in an area they called the University Village. “Off campus” but the school surrounded it on all sides. All the usual stuff was here; the pizza joints, the combo undergraduate/biker bars and the unofficial book stores with the “Ball U” shirts. This place was dimly lit, quiet…
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Stone Cold
“Oh my god!!!” Everyone in the men’s restroom turned around and saw me, dazed, laying on the floor. But the cry of shock and come from the hallway outside; I had fallen just inside the doorway and the door still stood open, held there by my body. I couldn’t say what happened exactly, but my…
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The Doctor Is On The Lift
I skied over to the bottom of the lift, timing my speed so that I could ski right past the “wait here” line and up to the loading line without stopping. Done right, you come to a smooth stop right as the chair comes up behind you. It was nighttime; patches of light dotted the…
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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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The Island
I remember old houses, weathered by wind and salt air and knocked sideways by hurricanes on their way to more newsworthy places. It was an island across the bay from Kennedy airport, surrounded by brackish water and interwoven by canals…fodder for tropical storms. It was populated by tough men and tougher women, union democrats with…
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The Long Sweet Goodbye
The rails had seen better days So we crept along at a snail’s pace Under big blue midwestern skies Young corn, wheat and hay flanking us We stood in the open vestibule Taking in the fresh air Feeling the heat Of that early summer morning We stopped behind a row of tidy houses Eating breakfast…
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Honey I Love You, My Suzy Q
Let’s get one thing straight right off the bat: They are smaller than they used to be. I don’t care what you say. I don’t care what the current purveyors of the legacy say. They are smaller. Full stop. I am an expert, I should know. Based on my consumption of these chocolate and cream…
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Loss
. I held her hand tightly, because I could. It’s what she wanted. It was sure as hell what I wanted. She was visiting me from out of state and I was showing off the city. We had been wandering around Manhattan all day and now long into the evening. It was New Years Eve…