JS called Saturday morning to let them know that he was sick to his stomach and couldn’t make it that night. Like Lauren, he was a type 1 diabetic. Sunday, he did not show for church, and Lauren told the man to call him. He did and got only voicemail. Monday was the day ofContinue reading “I’m Sorry to Call You with This News on Christmas Eve”
Category Archives: Life and Death
The Vision of the Valley of Cancerous Bones
He is sitting on the upper deck of the lake house in Maine. His wife is in the kitchen with her sisters making dinner. Towels are drying on the rail in front of him. He opens the Bible to Ezekiel 37. Most Mormons like it for the stick of Joseph and the stick of Judah.Continue reading “The Vision of the Valley of Cancerous Bones”
You Will Give the Blessing
The room is dark. Lauren is breathing deeply, almost snoring. His mind is filling with random, disconnected thoughts. And then, they change and become clear. “I call down the powers of heaven and the holy angels on your behalf and command you to be well. I rebuke your cancer and command your bones to heal.”Continue reading “You Will Give the Blessing”
Flank Road
He liked to come here on his lunch hour because no one could find him. He just grabbed the lunch cooler in his car, crossed Flank Road, and disappeared into the swamp. There was a fallen tree with lichens growing over it maybe 200 yards in, and the water rarely got so far out asContinue reading “Flank Road”
You Will Understand When You Get Older
He is sitting in his grandmother’s front room. His father comes down the hall and settles into the easy chair next to the couch. “I don’t know what to do with her.” “What do you mean?” “She refuses to pack. I have her suitcases open, and she won’t put anything in them.” “She can’t stayContinue reading “You Will Understand When You Get Older”
We Don’t Know What the Next World Will Be Like
It is early afternoon. The man sits on a kitchen chair next to his father. His father pushes a button, and the train begins to run around the long oval track. “I love trains. Your mother got this for me as a very early Christmas present so I could enjoy it longer.” It has beenContinue reading “We Don’t Know What the Next World Will Be Like”
Among the Dead at the Mule Shoe
Thunder of cannon. Line after line of men, issuing sheet after sheet of flame—that’s the vision he sees. He is standing on a trail inside Union lines. He stares across the empty field at the Mule Shoe of Spotsylvania Courthouse where Union and Confederate troops fought for 24 straight hours, often with just wooden defensiveContinue reading “Among the Dead at the Mule Shoe”
So This Is It
Right after the session they are seated next to each other on a couch in the celestial room. It is summer before what he thinks will be his final two semesters of college when he will finish with an English major and a Spanish minor. But as he sits next to her, he can seeContinue reading “So This Is It”
This Will Be the Day That I Die
Until South Padre Island Drive ends. That’s how long you drive to get to Big Shell. You drive the island expressway across the bridge, pass Snoopy’s on the right, pass through Flour Bluff, watch it turn to a two-lane road, and then there are sand dunes and a sign that says, “Four-wheel drive vehicles onlyContinue reading “This Will Be the Day That I Die”
All Apologies
“You go to Chris’s funeral?” he asks P, sitting next to her at Bayfront Park. “Yeah. You? I didn’t see you there but there were a lot of people.” “Nah. I did the viewing. Was kinda done after that. How was the funeral?” “It wasn’t him. He would have hated it. The minister kinda pissedContinue reading “All Apologies”
His Smile Lit Up a Room and Other Things to Say at My Funeral 