Episodes
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Finding God
The crowd followed behind the boy as he held his chin up and continued to walk the road rarely traveled by others. No one had a reason anymore to take the dirt path leading to the only church remaining in the small town. That trail continued beyond the abandoned house of worship to the coast and...
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Best Honeymoon Ever
Before discussing the honeymoon in great detail, it's essential to develop an understanding of our relationship. It's amazing how perspectives change after fifty birthdays. Our main goal this year after Lynette moved in over the summer was to be debt free going into the new year (except for the...
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Emie And Me
The old folks have always said that love tends to hurt. Well, they were spot on when it came to Emie and me. I couldn't have been more than eleven when she moved into the neighborhood. Clarkstown is a quaint community, but that girl sure did liven things up. I caught her attention when I passed…
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Change
It all started around the Thanksgiving table at my parent's house in 2021. The big plan was to propose to Sally when it was my turn to tell everyone why I was thankful. It marked our fourth year together during the Holidays listening to Uncle Joe tell everyone he was saved from a horrible end…
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Autumn Quest
The Mighty Cumberland backdrop materializes as the technicolored leaves drift to the earth, signaling transition. God performs an effortless miracle furnishing a stunning quilt to warm the ground during the months ahead. Autumn foliage frolics through the breeze, using the waft as its partner on...
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First Car
If I wasn't at school, I was working, and if I wasn't working, I was at church. Time for sleep never came easy but then again, at sixteen, who needs rest? Unlike most kids, I didn't get my driver's license as soon as my birthday came around. Independence never felt like a big deal. Plenty of...
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Would Of, Could Of, Should Of
Looking for love in all the wrong places is nothing new for Phoebe. She's spent most of the '70s trying her best to connect the dots, but inevitably her number two pencil breaks or coffee stains the paper. It's not that she settles for the wrong guys, but somehow she pulls them in, and it's over...
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The Slowdown
I've always lived in Clarksville. Like anyone else, I've moved around a few times. Still, I decided long ago that this city will always be my home, whether I reside on Memorial Drive, Bentree Court, or several other locations. It's a good town to grow up in, and I'm happy my kids made the same...
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Unspoken Part 3 - The Proposal
"Hey Lynette, I just finished another story and posted it on Facebook. I haven't recorded it yet, so would you mind pulling it up on my page and reading it out loud?" I asked, pointing to the second paragraph showing her where to start and then having a seat next to her to listen. Thirty-four…
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Weddings
It's not often I get the opportunity to dress up. Please understand that it's not something I look forward to no matter the occasion. Typically it means one of my cousins is getting married, and I have a lot of cousins. Putting on nice clothes is a lot of work for subpar non-chocolate cake. Those...
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Let Go
A few months had passed since Daddy made his way into Heaven. The farm looked the same. The crab apple trees still sent a burst of fragrance up the hill and around the house into the front yard whenever a warm wind decided to wake up. My dog Ginger continued to find me when I wandered outside...
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Picture Day
Picture day is perhaps the biggest day of the school year. Time will pass while images captured and carefully scattered throughout the annual burn a spot in our mental history book. We'll never see most of our classmates again, so they'll always be their first-grade selves with a 1978 haircut....
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Unspoken Part 2
Two years shuffled by as quickly as the last day of summer break when I was a kid. The first and only time we ever kissed was back in '88, and I knew I was in love right then and there. The whole relationship was doomed from the beginning when Lynette left the next day for home in Illinois. We...
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Lost Spirits
There's no timeline for Hannah. Knowing her, she's forgotten it's even 1972. A cross-country trip that could have easily taken a week or two to complete has her on the road bouncing from place to place for a few months now. She rarely thinks about the man she shot and killed back home, and when…
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Super-Secret Ingredient
Maybe age is only a number, and perhaps it isn't. Ask me how I feel about it when I'm really old, like forty or fifty or something. All I know is that whenever a birthday rolls around, I get some fantastic chocolate cake my mother whipped up. Eventually, the seventies will become the eighties…
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Unspoken
Sunday evening was always more enjoyable than the morning at Pleasant View Baptist. A laid-back atmosphere of blue jeans and talk of the day's afternoon football game before the service is a better fit, and I don't even care for football. Brother Larry never failed to deliver some goofy greeting…
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'75 Encounter
Even at four years old, I've always prided myself in having quite the imagination. Thanks to The Twilight Zone, I can evaluate the possibilities of unusual circumstances surrounding regular people like me. Making a deal with the devil is never a good idea, and if I'm ever the last person alive in...
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The Playground
What fascinated me the most about my first day of school at Cumberland Heights was laying eyes on the playground. All I could do was stand there and soak it all in and try to figure out how things worked. I could already tell my most significant hurdle would be the slide. Standing at the base of...
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Loss part Two
It's been four years since I paid a visit to the principal's office. Mrs. Allen, my second-grade teacher, found cause every week to send me to see Mr. Mitler, but it usually ended with a smile and encouragement to do better. I'm pretty sure I'm not in trouble this time, but I don't enjoy coming...
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The 4
I'm not overly excited about going to work on Sundays. It's our long day at the Catfish House, and I'm stuck there from eight in the morning until around ten at night. Between all of the prep, taking care of customers, and doing inventory, it's not my favorite day of the week. The afternoon...
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'94 Ice Storm
Long johns, coveralls, ski mask, four heavy blankets, and I'm still cold. The worst part is initially crawling into bed. The mattress is as hard as a rock, and even with three pairs of socks, my feet are still freezing. Looking out at other apartments is incredibly frustrating because their…
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A Time
Everybody is awkward at thirteen and unsure how to feel, think, or even comprehend what matters and why it counts. Some kids have issues talking to a cute classmate, while others have limited social skills altogether. No one ever explains there is no right or wrong way to approach life, and how…
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The Slim Gentleman
No more than five hours ago, I was warm and cozy next to my wife in the den. The glow of a brilliant fire lit up her soft face to remind me of the wisest decision I'd ever made. Dumb luck introduced us, but my hardheadedness won her over in the end. Occasionally she'd look up at me with her…
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Saving Autumn
The beauty of autumn in Clarkstown depends on how hot and dry the summer is leading up to it. June and July were so wet in '71 that the river flooded every inch of bottomland in the county. Most of the folks on the bluff could skip rocks right from their backyards, and rain is all they talked…
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The Experience
"Ashlee, if you are attempting to kill your brother, you are doing a phenomenal job," I yelled as loudly as I could from under my pillow, endeavoring to pamper myself with ten extra minutes of sleep. Restaurant work is formidable, and the prospect of staying in bed on my day off tends to escape…
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Empty
Clifford dresses like he's a broken-down automobile some mechanic fixed up using old parts from three or four dissimilar models. Like the misshaped porkpie hat and Hawaiian print golf shirt, most of his clothes came from thrift stores. Even his khaki trousers and vintage black and grey saddle…
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Write Far Away
"Things are not looking good for the mighty Musketeers with thirty seconds left in the game and fifty yards. It looks like they've called a time-out. I want to take this opportunity to remind all of the fine folks who listen to WJKM that you can get your film developed over at Mr. Ken's...
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The Gift
Nate has big plans to ring in the New Year, but he won't be seeing 1980. Like every December thirty-first, he'll thumb through the pictures around ten in the morning, eat his two eggs, and maybe go for a walk. Nate appreciates the scenery of an abandoned downtown, perhaps because there's a bond...
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Hey Teach
My sophomore year at MCHS gave me a gift I'd cherish for a lifetime. Prior to the tenth grade, I invested many waking hours in pursuit of coolness. The goal of acceptance seemed within reach many times but faded away before I could secure my grasp. It always felt like I had something to prove…
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Stillness
The machine rumbles and sputters as the last bit of clean oil escapes through the hose into the deep fryer at the Catfish House. After placing the handle securely onto the filter machine, I roll it out of the way and walk toward the back door to look outside before checking the dining room. A...
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Losing Christmas
When I was small, Santa left all of my gifts unwrapped on Christmas morning. It was nothing short of extraordinary to walk into the living room to see my Lone Ranger or the Star Wars toys I scored one lucky year. A record player even sat under the tree once surrounded by Kenny Rogers and Beach…
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Second Street
Kathleen is getting older but not old enough to call old. The Price Is Right has always been her claim to fame, but she didn't win back in 73' and now, in 78' she sits in Frank's Diner on Second Street. Some things seem like they happened yesterday, while others were surely two lifetimes ago. She...
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A Little Magic
My house has two warm rooms, the living room, and the kitchen. Those enormous wood stoves certainly do the trick, and the sound of the wood crackling never gets old. It's about thirty minutes before bedtime, and I need to make sure I'm prepared to drift away quickly. It's a big night with Santa...
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The Good News
Dad was one of a kind, and no one can argue that because it's a fact. If I'm being honest, I suppose we all are unique but maybe what I'm attempting to say is that our actions reflect how folks remember us. If you didn't know my Dad, Hank, well, you'd probably think he was crazy, and many did. My...
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The Assignment: Chapter Four
The truth is, in the end, Kelly chose the man she loved. It's that simple. Cans bounced around, smacking the pavement behind my bright red pickup truck. Kelly and I drove into Gatlinburg with "JUST MARRIED" painted on the back windshield and along the sides of my brand new 91' Sonoma. Shiny gold...
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The Assignment: Chapter Three
I'm relatively confident God gives each of us the ability to love more than one person. Those feelings aren't like the numbers on a calculator that we can delete and start over. It's more like a beautiful painting we hide away in the attic because there's no room left on the wall. It's still...
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The Assignment: Chapter Two
Life can be jam-packed full of second chances. Sometimes we have to orchestrate our own melodies, and occasionally, the day plays an unplanned piece so sweet we're not even sure if we are supposed to hear it. Welcome the tragic tunes and the victorious versus all the same because seasons are…
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The Assignment
It's a good thing I excel in speech and drama; otherwise, I'd be screwed in Mrs. Todd's class this year. Kelly is by far the biggest distraction in my life right now, without a doubt. I called her at least three times over the summer and hung up as soon as she said hello. Thankfully fate gave me…
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Snowbird And Bill
Mrs. Phillips recognizes we aren't completing any work today, so she rolls the projector in to keep us engaged. Movie time never occurs in her class, so we all know there is a genuine chance we'll be going home early. The lights go out, and the gentle hum from the machine follows the click of the...
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Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
It's not Thanksgiving until Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is on the television. The floats, the marching bands, and the entertainers are mesmerizing. It's an enormous spectacle, especially for a little boy in a small town. Mom's already busy in the kitchen, but my father hangs out with me for...
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Thanksgiving
"We are taking heavy fire! I repeat we are taking heavy fire! I need a medic over here now! Keep your head down, son, unless you want to lose it. Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes, men," I said in my best authoritative voice. My mind tends to get pretty noisy whenever bombers,...
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Always Wear Nice Underwear
I have made many trips to the chiropractor in my later years. The old back began going downhill at age 38. I'm guessing it has a lot to do with years of standing and lifting heavy things improperly. Restaurant work definitely has quite the impact on a spine. The biggest lesson my bad back taught…
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Evelyn
I didn't know Evelyn back in 1933 during the height of the depression, but I know she witnessed the Second World War unfold on the radio like most Americans. By the time she was twelve, the whole thing was over, so I doubt she would have paid it much mind if her brothers hadn't enlisted. Days…
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Twas The Night Before Christmas
A Visit from St. Nicholas By Clement Clarke Moore 'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there; The children were nestled all snug in…
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Cruising
Seventy-eight dollars was a pretty good haul today. The promotion from busboy to a server is what I needed. Now I'm making more in one night than I did in a weekend of cleaning tables at the Catfish House. Luckily Mrs. Ellis gave me a shot because I always thought I was too clumsy to carry all of...
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Coming Home
I never liked flying. The one time I got a window seat, I ended up giving it to an elderly woman who insisted she could see her dead husband in the clouds and enjoyed long conversations with him. As far as I could tell, she slept the whole time. Isle seats are best anyway because these trips tend...
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Uncle Neb
Sunshine shot through the rifts in the old tobacco barn in Salem, displaying millions of particles hustling around like minnows in a pond. Layers of deep green leaves linger overhead, perfectly placed until reaching their prime. A single delicate burley leaf escapes as if an elephant's ear could...
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Harvey
Ninth grade has been a whirlwind. It's my first year as an official high schooler, and I've figured a few things out. I'm not even talking about history or science; it's the important stuff like, well, life. Many of my old friends from elementary school vanished into the halls of my memory while...
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First Date
It's almost a little cruel going from the top of the food chain as a sixth-grader into a school occupied by grades seventh through twelfth. Montgomery Central is a giant swimming pool occupied by hormone-driven adolescents pushed in with the option to sink or swim. Some students look like they...
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Yearbook
There's nothing like cracking open a brand new yearbook and getting a whiff of that adhesive and ink. Each section holds a treasure chest full of memories frozen in time. We quickly skim over some pages while others are studied and admired. Sometimes we skip the photos and quotes altogether and…
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