Tag: family saga
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Stop Crying
Do you cry too much? My father used to reward me for staying in and being safe. As a police officer he coolly handled blood, insanity and anger, but he could not handle threats to his children. He could not handle the idea of them making mistakes or being shamed. His heart was in the […]
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Flowers in the Window
Bring in those flowers and put them on the windowsill where you wash the dishes. You pass them every day, but you’re so busy and there will be new blooms tomorrow. My mother once said she felt sorry for flowers picked and put in a vase and didn’t need them. She said this because she […]
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Book Review: The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
My father lived in a cursed house as a child. Every night an old hag with a red kerchief wrapped around her head climbed the shingles of the house up to his window and knocked with her boney fingers until he woke with a start. My uncle was hit by a truck in that house. […]
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Memories: Growing up During the Sexual Revolution
A Peeping Tom wandered our neighborhood when I was about nine. Once when I was sleeping over Susan Brennan’s house the doorbell rang late at night as we dosed on the couches with the television buzzing the end of the broadcasting day. Drowsily, we pulled the curtains back, too tired to be afraid, and saw […]
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Book Review: Giants in the Earth by O. E. Rolvaag
Are you looking for a light and cheerful winter read? Well, this isn’t the one! It’s brilliant — like snow-blind brilliant. It’s human, but in the most tragic sense. It’s spellbinding like a breathtaking winter sunset when it’s far below freezing. Most Americans are familiar with THE LONG WINTER by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Pa’s optimism […]
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“Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol, morphine or idealism.” Carl Gustav Jung
I had no story before addiction. I’ve never been addicted to heroin or drink. My habit has been idealism. I’ve ridden on high horses more times than I care to admit. I’ve been quixotic and delusional. The other day I remembered a student of mine that I had tried to fix. His parents (from where […]
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The Past is Never Dead
“The past is never dead. It’s not even past. All of us labor in webs spun long before we were born.” William Faulkner
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Fiction: Grace Before Meals
“Is that the way religious types talk all the time? Do you ever have normal talk or do you have to bring God into every little thing? It’s damned annoying—and off-putting, I might add.”