Points of Reference

My oldest granddaughter is 6 now. So smart...yet so much to learn. Love you Mia. Think back to when you were 5 or 6 years old. Remember how long a year used to be? It took forever for Christmas to come. These days the years just seem to fly by. But consider this. Consider your point of reference. When you were 5, one year was an entire 5th of your life. Today, if you’re say 40, one year is a considerably smaller segment. Point of reference. Keep it in mind when your child suffers his or her first broken heart. They don’t have the same point of reference you do. It’s their first. They have nothing to compare it too. Keep it in mind when your kid loses that first big game. He or she doesn’t have a history of wins and losses like you do. They don’t know they’ll get over it because they’ve never had to before. No matter how hard we try we can’t teach experience. And experience is everyone’s point of reference. A 5 year old will never have a 40 year old’s slant on how fast time flies. A 15 year old will never have a 50 year old’s understanding of whether a heart is truly broken or just dented a little. Point of reference. Think about it.

Slanted Rays and Colored Days

I've been asked to repeat this. Thanks for asking----Fall will be here soon. Arriving with her many colors like bright burning embers of summer’s dying fire. Beautiful, but brief. Marking the cooling of the air...the lowering of the clouds...and the coming of Winter’s silver blue. The slanted rays and colored days, as Lightfoot put it, stir many emotions. There’s a certain sadness about a lonely chevron of wild geese in the distant sky. And the rattle of dry leaves on shivering, skeleton trees. Night falls sooner and seems a shade darker. It’s a bittersweet time of memories...loves lost and found and old friends and family past and gone. For me...I know I miss my Dad more in the Fall. I do love the Fall though. Sweater weather and nightly fires in the fireplace. For all the endings Fall brings it’s also such a gateway of promise and good times. Soon will come the little ghosts and goblins of Halloween. The warmth and good cheer of Thanksgiving. The magic of Christmas. The hope of a brand New Year. Fall...the bright burning embers of Summer’s dying fire. The season of what might have been. The season of what could be.

Every Now And Then

Every now and then, it’s a cold November sky. It’s a tear never cried. It’s a smile that was lost long ago. Every now and then, it’s the taste of the wine. It’s the passing of time...the shadows from the moonlight through the window. Every now and then, as evening falls all around and the beating of my heart is the only sound...I remember. Every now and then, it’s the dancing of a candle in the dark. It’s someone’s innocent casual remark. It’s a snow cloud racing with the moon. Every now and then, it’s the embers of a fire as it dies. It’s a face in a crowd passing by. It’s a moment that’s over too soon. Every now and then, as evening falls all around and the beating of my heart is the only sound...I remember. I’m spending too much time with ghosts upon this sacred ground. My apologies.

Did You Know I Was There?

Did you know I was there that day? I stood for quite a while on that ocean, windswept hill on Cape Cod. Did you know I was there? What brought you to this place…adventure…escape…duty? Was this your home or a stop along the way? What were your hopes? What were your dreams? Did you have blue eyes? Did you like to laugh? Were you afraid of the dark? Did you have freckles? Could we have been friends? Centuries separate us, yet you will always be a young woman taken too soon. And I remain the older man who wondered who you were. I stood for quite a while on that ocean, windswept hill on Cape Cod. I stood for quite a while on that sacred ground. Did you know I was there? The stone read; In Memory of Phebe Brown, Wife of Samuel Hinkley Brown, Died June 1st 1795 in the 23rd year of her Age

I Hope It's Rest...

I wrote this awhile ago thinking...praying...I would never have to come back here again. Well, here I am. The first trip to this nightmare was with a young man named Gus. Now, once again, it’s the same nightmare, but with a new name. He was another one of my son's friends from high school...and we laid him to rest today. At least...I hope it’s rest. And I pray he’s at peace...finally. This young man who will never see this world through an old man’s eyes. This young man who will never find the love of his life. This young man who will never hear his child call him Daddy. This good young man who, unfortunately, made some very bad decisions. We laid him to rest today. A lifetime too soon. Children are supposed to bury their parents. Parents are not supposed to bury their children. We laid him to rest today. For all of you who have been to this dark place, I can only pray you find some comfort in the arms of the angels. At moments like this, I know that God himself is weeping with us. We laid him to rest today. At least...I hope it’s rest. And I pray he’s at peace...finally. Know that you were once very much loved Ben. We’ll miss you.

Halloween Wind

It’s a Halloween wind that blows tonight. Can you feel it? Warm and sweet, but with just the slightest touch of frost around the edges. It’s the kind of wind that gently rattles drying leaves on soon to be skeleton trees. It’s the kind of wind that lifts outbound geese in chevron flight and drives the clouds low across a fiery sunset sky. It’s a Halloween wind that blows tonight. It’s the kind of wind that makes the evening shadows dance and the critters nervous. It’s a wind that whispers that a change is coming. Get ready. It’s a wind that whirls the mist around a gnarly old oak as easily as it does a faded memory around a lonely heart. It’s a Halloween wind that blows tonight. Soon the witching season will be here and restless spirits will once again take flight under the ghostly cast of a harvest moon. It’s a Halloween wind that blows tonight. Can you feel it?

Passing The Wallpaper Love Test

It's our anniversary. I guess we passed. From awhile ago----If you’re at all curious about the strength of your marriage, ask yourself this one simple question. Can you wallpaper together? I’m convinced this may be the truest test of true love. Especially, if you live in an older home. You know, before they invented straight walls and right angled corners. The first step in the Wallpaper Love Test is...can you agree on a pattern? Preliminary skirmishes may give you a good idea if The Wallpaper Wars are about to break out. If agreement can be reached, the actual hanging of the stuff...they picked a good word didn’t they...hanging...will bring out the best or the worst. Can you line up those itty bitty blue flowers...the pattern you thought you agreed on, but he secretly thinks is way too girly...without wishing medieval torture on each other’s families? Can you balance on the top of a ladder, holding a piece in place, while your wife takes a call from her Mother or your husband checks on the score of the game without your complete, unabridged collection of profanity escaping from your clenched lips? Well...can you? If you can wallpaper together, there is not much that can put your marriage asunder. However, if you can’t, it doesn’t necessarily mean your marriage is in trouble. It just means that, for the sake of the kids of course, paint is a much healthier decorating choice.