Our perception of what constitutes a ‘real man’ is constantly evolving. There was a time when the western hero was the paragon. A strong, brave and pure loner of unbending conviction who protected the abused and downtrodden.
Today, the …
It’s mid-afternoon and off in the kitchen I hear the play-by play of a Giants baseball game coming from the bake-lite radio on the counter near the stove and the faint roar of the crowd when the Giants get on …
My son broke my heart today. I have kids, four of them to be exact. They range in age from four to nine and I have to say that they are some of the greatest kids I’ve ever met, but …
A flimsy wall of sanitized white cloth defines the narrow space, pretending to offer privacy. I peer around it at my grandmother, framed in the hospital bed. I grab at the wall suspended from its sterile alloy track in the …
I am happy to be going somewhere, anywhere, alone with my dad. At the same time, it doesn’t feel right, seem right. He never takes us places by himself except a memorable few times to the bar when Mom is …
“B Dublee dubblel dubblee K,” my grandmother said triumphantly, when I asked her to spell the name of her hometown. She smiled happily, glad she had remembered. My mother interjected, “That’s not how you spell it! It’s b,e,double l, double …
The first home I made for myself was in Italy. I had come there for my senior year of college with the intention of remaining after I graduated and seeing if I could turn myself into a writer. I had decided …
There was a barking in the distance. I fought my way through a thick fog. It grew louder and louder until suddenly it was right next to my ear. I opened my eyes and realized I had been dreaming. But, the barking. That was very …
I interviewed for my last job in 1993 when there were no cell phones; the internet was in its infancy. Blackberry was familiar as a fruit. Next year, a careless driver ran over me as I walked my dogs, leading …
It is dinner time. As I so often do, instead of sitting in the cafeteria, I am eating my dinner in the garden adjacent to the Catholic hospital where I work the evening shift. The nuns of the hospital had …