I was dressed in a completely inappropriate shade of pink: hot, hot pink with white piping around my lapels and pockets and the hem of my mini-shirt; absolutely not the right color for a funeral, particularly my mother’s. My Aunt June’s eyes widened when I walked into the church and my Uncle Seymour leered, which…
Category: Stories
In Memory of My Sister, Leslie
Leslie’s birthday is in just a few days, so she has been on my mind. This is a repost of the remarks I made at her funeral back in March, 2012. Good afternoon. My name is Len Leatherwood and I am Leslie’s younger sister. On behalf of my entire family, I’d like to thank you…
The Nightmare of Car Shopping
Yesterday and today, we have been out car shopping with Liz since her car was totaled in an accident last week. Ugh. No, we do not have a new car sitting in the garage at Liz’s apartment tonight. We wish we had a new car there, we want to have a new car there, but,…
Car Wreck in Downtown LA
I am very grateful that my daughter Elizabeth is alive and well today after being involved in an auto accident yesterday in downtown LA. A young woman came out of a side street (with a stop sign) as Liz was driving down the road and wham! That was it. Luckily, the young woman is okay,…
My Father’s Words
These are things my dad used to say: 1) “That old dog won’t hunt.” This meant that excuse won’t work; that plan isn’t any good; that behavior isn’t what it should be, etc. 2) “Hasta La Stinko” This was accompanied by a smile and a wave to a bunch of teenagers who seemed to constantly…
Flash Fiction: Edith’s Tear
Dad gives me a wink, like we are pals or something. We’re sitting in our kitchen having eggs and waffles on a Sunday morning. I’m not sure why he winked; we haven’t said a nice word to each other for weeks, not since he married that witch that is now supposed to be my new…
Sadie’s Good-Bye
“But she promised she’d say good-bye,” Max said as he swigged a glass of lager while we sat in our usual back booth at “Let’s Get It On” bar. Just a side note about the bar – it was about the last place anybody would ever think to “get it on,” unless that meant to…
Flash Fiction: An Education
I loved the way she said “balloon.” She said it as if she were blowing bubbles… She was strawberry blonde and had the greenest eyes I had ever seen. There was something about the way she puckered up her lips when she asked for a balloon that night at the carnival that made her look…
A Chronicle of My Day
I am sitting with my student, Oona. We are doing a quick write. I am tired today. Ray and I sat up until almost 2 am watching the last episodes of Orange is the New Black. This was Season 2. It is a new experience for me watching episodic television in this free-form approach –…
Insight from Max Perkins and Hemingway
The famous editor Max Perkins wrote: I think, in truth, that the best writing of all is done long after the events it is concerned with, when they have been digested and reflected upon unconsciously, and the writer has completely realized them in himself. It is good journalistic writing that is done quickly while everything…
20 Minutes a Day 