I posted my first blog on November 19, 2017. I was starting a new hobby to help me fill my retirement hours. I knew nothing about writing but wanted to give it a shot. As of today, I’ve been writing my blog for eight years, and this is my 836th story. I chose my friend, …
Main Squeeze
I’ve written about the epiphany I had in my closet a year ago following my shoulder surgery. I was ending the seven weeks I spent recording my audiobook, thinking about my lot in life, wishing it would change and realizing I was the only one who could change it. I didn’t take action until I …
Another Second Chance
I originally wrote this tale in June of 2019. It was called Second Chances. I was about a year and a half into writing my blog when I published it. A ton has changed since that day. Life is full of surprises. Some are good. Some are tough to take. A couple of times a …
Avoid and Omit
One of my fellow memoir writers recently used two words in a story that struck a chord with me. Avoid and omit. The week before another writer shared an interview she’d conducted. The interviewee had used the word “nigger’ but the writer said n-word when she read the story aloud. That struck a chord with …
Words of Affirmation
One of my David friends and I were talking about women this summer. He taught for me and eventually became my assistant principal when I worked in Addison. His wife, Cindy, taught for several years with Ruth for the Adrian Public Schools. They were part of the “ladies aid” group that met for drinks on …
Next Wednesday
Next Wednesday I start facilitating a group for Singles New Beginnings. The official description reads as follows: The focus of this course is taking small action steps to grow your relationships in number and depth. Instead of working alone, the company of like-minded people can make the difference between success and failure, hope and despair. …
Listen! Listen!
I told my friend Barbara that I was open to taking a dance class through The Villages’ Enrichment Academy. I’d taken several classes over the years: magic, various computer classes, several writing classes, cardio drumming, and, yes, dance. Ruth and I took a few dance classes: cha cha cha, country line, and country partner dance. …
Moving Forward
I’ve written a lot about losing Ruth and the grief her passing caused. There’s no way to measure it and there was certainly no way to prepare for it. She was here one moment and gone the next. My dad’s health failed over a number of years, and he was in hospital rooms and care …
I Still Believe It’s the Do.
I get flashbacks through social media almost every day. Many are blog posts from prior years. If there’s a method to the madness it must be the calendar. I wrote the following three years ago. I posted the blue story the night that Ruth died. I had already written it and followed through with the …
The Last Bite
I posted a blog called Three Toasts in April of 2020. It was about the three toasts that I offered when each of my three children were married: David in August of 2004, Mike in October of 2009 and Elizabeth in April of 2010. I’m a crier and I cried through each toast. When I …