I was probably ten years old when I started bringing the paper in regularly, opening it on the coffee table, and pulling it apart to read. My early interests were the sports section, but I voraciously read all our cereal boxes, shampoo labels, the jackets of cassette tapes, and just about anything else with words.Continue reading “Tuesdays and Thursdays with Mort and Bill”
Tag Archives: Grandparents
Do Not Go Toward the Light
When my in-laws Marti and Leon lived in Norton, we often went to their house for dinner on Sundays. Lauren and Marti usually made either pot roast with potatoes and carrots or pasta and meatballs. Both were served with salad—twigs and leaves, Leon called it since it was always spring mix. Leon didn’t like twigsContinue reading “Do Not Go Toward the Light”
Old Guy: “Old People Are the Worst”
Lauren’s father Leon used to sit down next to his grandkids and say, “Old people are the worst. Don’t hang out with them.” They would giggle and say, “You’re right.” “Fortunately, I never grew up, so you can hang with me,” he would say. And this was mostly true—in his eighties, he had the senseContinue reading “Old Guy: “Old People Are the Worst””
Try Reading Some Signs Now and Again
We went to Pennsylvania for the weekend to see Lindsay at a wrestling tournament and Grant at his football banquet. On the way we listened to the podcast Ghost Story, which focused on the long-ago murder of Naomi Dancy and the alleged suicide of her brother Morris. A historian who had researched Naomi’s husband JohnContinue reading “Try Reading Some Signs Now and Again”
Put Your Trust in Ice Cream
They are in Corpus Christi to visit, and upon their arrival, Mom declared that she had done no shopping because she didn’t know what they would want since they had a baby now so they would need to go to the store. Fine, no problem. They are now at HEB with Grant in his carContinue reading “Put Your Trust in Ice Cream”
Why Don’t They Call it Lawyer Pibb?
What do you call two thousand lawyers at the bottom of the ocean? Progress. What’s the difference between a lawyer and a shark? The shark doesn’t charge you after eating you alive. What do you say to a drowning lawyer? I have no idea. Good! The young man’s dad is a lawyer. Dad laughs alongContinue reading “Why Don’t They Call it Lawyer Pibb?”
There Once Was a Man from Boston
They are having family home evening, and the young man is sitting on the couch with Stephen and Ruthanne. They have moved past the lesson, and their parents are telling stories of their early courtship. “So your dad invited me over to dinner to meet his parents for the first time,” says the young man’sContinue reading “There Once Was a Man from Boston”
That’s What They Expect You to Do in the Church
The young man has been fasting today. He wants to confirm that he should marry Lauren Elliott of Massachusetts, a sister he knew from his mission and has been dating since coming home. The day has not gone as he expected. He and Lauren got in an argument at church. He has had a splittingContinue reading “That’s What They Expect You to Do in the Church”
A Mind That’s Weak, A Back That’s Strong
He has finished the ham and funeral potatoes, and he wanders over to Uncle Ned standing next to Uncle Max. “Dad wasn’t such a bad guy. If he got angry and you were near him, he might kick you down the stairs. But if you survived that explosion, it was over quick and he wasContinue reading “A Mind That’s Weak, A Back That’s Strong”
A Poor Man’s Made Out of Muscle and Blood
The boy is ten and on his first All Star baseball team. They have completed their first practice in the simmering Corpus Christi heat, and it was nothing like regular Little League practice. Drills were far more intense, they conditioned, and they worked the entire two hours with no time wasted shagging balls or foolingContinue reading “A Poor Man’s Made Out of Muscle and Blood”
His Smile Lit Up a Room and Other Things to Say at My Funeral 