I have learned that the home of two of my childhood friends, Sharon and Sandra Newton, was destroyed by the recent tornado that hit the Dallas area on December 26th. Sharon, Sandra and their husbands have lost everything. The good news is that they did find their cat this afternoon. Hooray for that wonderful discovery….
Category: Texas
Post-Midnight Mass Christmas Party circa 1963
My parents hosted a Christmas party every year in the wee hours of Christmas morning after Midnight Mass at our tiny Holy Trinity Episcopal church in Bonham, Texas. This party was for all the church people and anyone else who happened to be awake and available for a party that began around 1 am on…
Flash Memoir Repost: Afternoons with Mr. Morgan
Mr. Morgan was a retired Episcopal priest who lived a few houses up from my family on East 9th Street in my hometown of Bonham, Texas. He and his wife, Anna, must have been in their 70’s when I was young. They both had white hair, and they walked with the stoop that comes with…
Milk Toast
When I was growing up my dad made me milk toast when I was sick. This consisted of two slices of toasted Mrs. Baird’s bread torn up and placed in a big bowl, then covered with warm milk sweetened with sugar. One pat of butter went on top to add a little extra richness. Milk…
Fort Worth, DFW and Tex-Mex
Ray and I are currently sprawled out on a makeshift pallet on the floor of the Fort Worth condo. Our plane leaves at 7 am and we are heading in that direction at 4:30 since we have to return a rent car and it is DFW, which means a huge airport and a very long…
The Big Country (1958) and Ray
Today Ray was not feeling well so we spent some time watching movies on television. The Big Country (1958) was one of those movies. It stars Gregory Peck, Jean Simmons, Carrol Baker, Charlton Heston and Burl Ives. I have to say that Burl Ives commands this movie with his performance. I didn’t know until afterwards…
Sherman, Fort Worth and Daughter Sarah
It is 12:42 am here in Sherman, Texas – 10:42 Pacific Time – and we just arrived at our house here about 45 minutes ago. We worked in Fort Worth all day on the condo, got stuck in Fort Worth traffic on our way to Sherman in early evening, then arrived an hour and a…
Leaning-In Here in LA
As I ran errands around the neighborhood today I couldn’t help but note that everywhere I went – to Box Brothers for packing materials for eBay sales, Pavilions for a few groceries, BOA to deposit checks – that people were especially friendly. An older man at Box Brothers told me all about the exceptional clam…
Stories of the Heart Conference in Austin in April!
Dear Len, I’m delighted to let you know that the Program Committee for next year’s conference has selected both your proposals, The Fun and Liberating World of Flash Fiction/Memoir and Transforming Your Writing Life in Just 20 Minutes a Day, for presentation. I speak for the Conference co-chairs, Peggy Moody and Jeanne Guy, as well…
Happy Birthday Eve, Brother Sam!
Tomorrow is my brother Sam’s birthday and I’ll just like to give him a shout out from CA to Texas or Ohio or Tennessee, wherever he may be tonight. My little brother is five years my junior and he has a musical streak that surpasses that of most mortal beings. He started pounding on a…
20 Minutes a Day 