It’s like the VA hospital just opened. Only two smokers out front and the usual guy looking confused on the bench near the main doors is absent. We say hello to an old vet as we enter. He’s missing both legs from the knee down. Fresh bandages, seeping. A dingy, dark blue USS something hat barely sits on his bald head. Kidney spots. In his mind … Continue reading Three Cheers for Osteochondral Defects
I don’t know where to start. I don’t know how to arrange what’s in my mind. On Thursday, September 2, 2016, the 20 year old Stanford student who raped a woman while she was passed-out drunk got out of prison after serving three months for his crime. Three months. During summer break, no less. This young man spent an insulting 90-days behind bars after brutally imposing … Continue reading Unpacking My Bags
We remember things. The smallest things. In fact, these small things are often what we remember the most. Like when my grandfather stooped down to tell eight-year-old me to always keep a bag packed because you never know when you’ll need to up and go. I had no idea what he meant, but I can picture his eyes, pleading and wide, waiting for me to … Continue reading The Smallest Gestures
Today I’m not going to Google anything that might alter how I remember things. Let memories be memories and leave it at that. I am sick of fact-checking my life. From trying to remember things correctly. All these photos zip-locked and stashed in steamer trunk. Pre-digital. Some with a date on the back or time-stamped on the front-bottom corner. Some with a year or place … Continue reading Memory, Gone
Twenty five years ago this month, Chaplain (Captain) Mike Suttle of Little Rock, Arkansas asked me if I wanted to join him in the 1991 running of the Frankfurt Marathon, our entry fees fully paid for by USAREUR (US Army Europe). At the time, I was a Private First Class (E-3) and Chaplain Suttle’s driver (our CUCVEE was aptly named “The Holy Roller”). He wanted … Continue reading Running My First Marathon
The neighbors brought by their new puppy. My wife and daughter were in the yard and got to meet it. Pet it for like an hour. A fluffy ball, licking and being cute as puppies do. I missed out on it all since I was working in my home office. When they came back inside, raving about how nice the new puppy was, how cute it … Continue reading Unsolicited
No greeting as we walked in. No acknowledgment of any kind, really. At least three staffers, though. One working on a nesting table’s display of floating rose petals, one standing behind the check-out counter, the third sitting on a chair in the shoe area, chatting with two people while one browses a selection of mark-downs. A sign that said “50% off all men’s shoes” is what brought … Continue reading Not Cool Enough, Apparently
Education & Motivation
Citizen Journalism, Spiritual Activism and Informative Interviews
Writer, Performer, Teacher
The Literary Journal of The Veterans Writing Project
"Noise soup. I just made it. Taste it with your ears." -Jarod Kintz
