We had red-orange “brick” linoleum in our kitchen at 902 East 9th Street, where I grew up. The pattern featured squares and rectangles of varying sizes, with gray, jagged “mortar” lines between them. My parents had that linoleum installed after we’d lived in the house for a while. It was part of a minimal kitchen…
Month: November 2025
A Dream of My Sister-in-Law, Sandra Leatherwood
A while back, I had a tiny snippet of a dream in which my dearly departed sister-in-law, Sandra Adams Leatherwood, appeared. She was young—maybe around 35 or so—and we were in the back garden of a house where she lived, though it wasn’t any house I recognized. She and I had been talking and laughing,…
Flash Fiction: Over the Hill and Through the Snow
“Come on, Henry, we need to get going,” Nell Castle said to her husband. “They’ll all be waiting for us.” Henry reached for his black hat resting on the top shelf of the closet. “Mother, I would rather just stay home, if you don’t mind.” He waited, hoping he’d get a reprieve. “Henry Castle, don’t…
Górecki’s Third: A Meditation on Love and Loss
Within minutes of hearing Gorecki’s Symphony No. 3, Ray is sniffing, and I have tears running down my cheeks. This music, which is also known as the Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, is so beautiful that it literally will make you weep. Gorecki, who was Polish, wrote this symphony in 1976 and it is composed of…
A Veteran’s Day Repost in Honor of My Brother, Jim
My brother, Jim, rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy, serving as a medical officer to the Marines. After graduating from medical school, he was stationed at Camp Lejeune and Camp Pendleton. He loved the military and often said that if it had been more accepting of gay men, he would…
Remembering Leonard Cohen
When Leonard Cohen died back in 2016, I felt as if I’d lost a lifelong friend. He was eighty-two then—still spry the last time I saw him perform, first in Las Vegas and then in Los Angeles. Ray and I even flew to Denver to hear him again, though that concert was rained out. We…
Flash Fiction: A Trade Worth Making
Margaret Johnson was eighty years old and lived in an assisted living facility. She was in good shape for her age—except for her thick glasses—and she had a secret. She was madly in love with Sy Silverman, a seventy-five-year-old newbie who’d arrived only two months before. Sy was not quite as spry as Margaret; he…
Weekend with Two of the Pacheco-Beaty Grandkids
Hanging out with these two grands for the weekend in South Pasadena. Sister Luna is at science camp and Mom and Dad are on a well-deserved weekend away. Nico had a soccer game this morning with his club team in Fullerton. Lyla played in the park right where the game was occurring. Lots of fun…
What My Brother Taught Me About Grace
I was thinking today about how my brother George faced one of the greatest adversities of his life shortly after he got sober. His life changed abruptly after a small, non-healing sore in his mouth was diagnosed as cancer, and two weeks later he was at M.D. Anderson preparing to have his jaw and the…
An Excellent Recipe: Pan Roasted Chicken & Oranges
Cooking is calming for me. It makes the house smell good and, of course, supplies Ray and me with some tasty meals. I especially like this recipe because of the inclusion of orange slices slipped under the chicken skin. Hard to beat that flavor. Here’s to comfort food. Pan Roasted Chicken & Oranges Ingredients Marinade:…
20 Minutes a Day 