Free-Floating Stories+

A snapshot-in-words of life in an Italian enclave on Detroit’s East Side in the 40s and 50s. Dear Mamo: How're you doing? I haven't seen you since grade school. I think about you from time to time. Especially when I tell my kids stories about you and the old neighborhood. How things were in our … Continue reading A Letter to Mamo

Are there some things we shouldn't talk abut in a marriage? Martin leaned forward, a little out of plumb, wavering slightly. “Can I say something, judge?” The traffic court judge leaned her chin on her hand, offering the slight nod and indulgent smile she might have bestowed on her favorite uncle. “Look, your honor,” he … Continue reading Left Turn on Red

Let It Rest   My wife, Penney, and I were returning from an outing to the Antler’s Bar and Grill where all the animals are stuffed and those that aren’t are stewed. That’s as close as I wanted to get to wildlife on a bitter winter night. But, wouldn’t you know it, on the road … Continue reading Let It Rest

   Venerable Bede 7th Century Monk The present life, O king, seems to me, in comparison with that time which is unknown to us, like to the swift flight of a sparrow through the room wherein you sit at supper in winter amid your officers and ministers, with a good fire in the midst whilst … Continue reading On Eternity…and on and on

Ann Pattchett’s Bookstore asks, ‘why write?’ when there are so many great writers out there It’s in Nashville. Ann Patchett’s bookstore. And as if there isn’t enough music on every corner and bar to grab you by the ears, inside the bookstore there is a recital in progress with a series of singers performing their … Continue reading Ann Pattchett’s Bookstore

There have to be safer ways to cope with a lay-off Mack sat on the sand thirty yards away from the rest of the members on their private beach. They all seemed content to lounge under carnival striped umbrellas, their warm, dry toes just out of reach of the five-foot waves rolling off Lake Michigan. … Continue reading Beach Start

a short sketch about family imprinting As I waited for the light to change, a pickup pulled up next to me. A five-year old boy popped up over the passenger side window sill. He had surprised me and he knew it. I grinned back just before he ducked down and I was left to watch … Continue reading Am I Watched?

When dementia can help...sort of My next-door neighbor, Ethel, lives with her elderly sister. Come to think of it, Ethel’s not so young herself. “Mandy,” she said over the phone. “Could you come over to stay with Cheryl for an hour…two at the most? I need to get an oil change and run some errands. … Continue reading Twitter Tourettes

Recently I heard that the Bushmen of the Kalahari spend a mere fifteen hours a week gathering food. The rest of the time they tell stories and interact. That sounds like fun—a kind of early retirement for the whole tribe. More to the point, I wondered how a people could spend so much time telling … Continue reading Why We Need Stories

A bachelor uncle reaches out of the past “James…” “What Mom? Something bad?” “My brother Duane died.” I could hear her breathing over the phone. Actually, you could most always hear her breathing…her COPD. But this time it was more rapid than usual. She was not very close to her brother. But still at their … Continue reading Uncle Duane…cut to black