Where were you when the world stopped turning?

Yes, I’m a day late with this. I cried yesterday when they played “Taps” before the Browns game, but I’d been upset before that, watching the video someone made with video and photographs to Alan Jackson’s song. Today, I have what a friend of mine called a “9/11 hangover” and this post is the result … Continue reading »

I Would Give Everything I Own …

I’m not very good at taking my own advice. Back a ways I wrote that you shouldn’t get too hung up on FB friends whom you don’t know personally. Now, here I am. One particular FB friend — very special to me, but not a “direct connect” — who was previously on pretty much every … Continue reading »

I Keep Holdin’ On …

“My friends ask me how I’m doin’ But I just can’t lie to ‘em Not feelin’ fine today …” Marc Cohn, Miles Away I know part of what’s wrong for me right now is the time of year. I’ve written about this before, about how my mom, dad and grandma all died this time of … Continue reading »

Raise your hands to heaven, and pray …

The tragedy in Haiti breaks my heart.  It’s hard not to feel helpless, to see the overwhelming destruction and need and have so little of practical use to offer.  There is so much pain and suffering, and once again, it looks like the response to Katrina — lots of sturm und drang and very little … Continue reading »

Give thanks with a grateful heart …

I reread my post from yesterday and realize that I may have given the wrong impression about something. One thing that has become increasingly valuable to me as time goes by is people who are willing to be honest, even if the truth is painful. I wrote two fairly long stories back at the beginning … Continue reading »

I will not back down! I will not go quietly!

Well, something happened this morning which was a MAJOR downer for me.  In fact, it started over the weekend, and the crowning touch was on my desk this morning when I came in.  “Decision” with a vengeance. At first, I was devastated.  I have pinned so many of my hopes on what I believed MIGHT … Continue reading »

In reality that comes from above …

I’ve had a really tough weekend, and I think I’ve figured out why. Before this, I could imagine any outcome and make myself believe they were possible.  But when I decided to venture forward, that changed.  The word “decide” comes from a Latin word which can be broken down as “cut off at a stroke”.  … Continue reading »

In Just-Fall

This month, now dying, has been very busy for me. First, we had a major report due out here at work, and I wound up with almost 40 hours of overtime in three weeks.  That alone meant that I didn’t do much of anything else.  You don’t realize how tiring work is until you have … Continue reading »

Lynx, RIP

As far back as I can remember, I’ve had cats in my life.  As a kid, there was “Old Lady” (a tortie and a fierce hunter), “Fluffy”, “Tigger”, “Bean” and more recently, “Macavity”, “Shadow”, “Lynx” and the catto de tutti catti “Doodlebug”. Well, most of those cats are gone.  We only had Lynx and Doodlebug, … Continue reading »

This Makes My Head (and Heart) Hurt

Sometimes, the news is just incomprehensible! There’s been an ongoing story here in Northeast Ohio that makes me want to cry. A little boy, eight years old, tells his parents he has a lump on his throat. They do nothing.  As time passes, he complains of more and more pain. His parents do nothing.  An aunt … Continue reading »