I am the fifth out of six children; technically, the fifth out of seven since my little brother, Robert, died just a few hours after his birth. I was 18 months old at the time of his death. From my perspective, there were two sets of kids in our family: the older kids: Leslie, John,…

This is the time of year when I disappear daily into my office and don’t emerge until late in the evening. What am I doing? Working on Zoom with high school seniors, who are writing their college essays; community college kids applying to their first choice universities for transfer; and college graduates applying to a…

A Poem to My Older Self If I am lucky I will one day be very old Wrinkled, hard of hearing, slow Watching as I sit Noting the dynamics of relationships Not concerned with what is said But focused on what I see Bodies leaning close or far Faces opened or closed I will know…

My old friend, Wendel Sloan, recently reminded me of a poem I wrote while we were in graduate school together in the Counseling program at East Texas State University in the 1970s. I was writing a fair amount at that time and read my poem out loud to him. He nodded his approval and encouraged…

Today, our three daughters, Sarah, Liz, and Rachael, along with Andrew, Rachael’s boyfriend, swam in the Naples Island Swim Race. The girls all swam the mile, and Andrew swam the three-mile race. Andrew’s parents and a cousin came to watch as well as our whole family. We had a lot of fun and were proud…

Today I received an email from a member of Story Circle Network, Sheila Allee, who wrote the following: Hi, Len. I love the poem you wrote about doing what needs to be done. Do you mind if I share it with my weekly newsletter subscribers? I have 700 subscribers and I think they would benefit…

A couple of weeks ago, Ray and I expected a crew of Sunkist orange pickers to arrive at our grove early in the morning. Their foreman had come a week prior and asked us to be sure and water our trees between 12- 24 hours two days in advance of our scheduled picking day. Normally,…

Hi all. Sorry to have dropped off the face of the earth. I indeed did come down with COVID-19 shortly after husband Ray started exhibiting symptoms. I started a Zoom meeting I thought I felt well enough to attend with a 99-degree temperature and said goodbye 1 1/2 hours later at 101.5. Ray called physician-daughter…

My husband Ray has come down with COVID for the first time. He started feeling bad a few days back, but we thought he was reacting to the high ragweed count. He is highly allergic and was coughing, wheezing, and feeling tired, which are typical reactions for him to ragweed. However, he felt especially bad…

One Monday evening in the fall, I was sauntering down the street to the convenience store when I happened to glance in the front window of the Ferguson’s house. Inside the dark living room, I could see the big color television was tuned into “The X-Files.” I knew Bobby who lived there and he loved…