When I was growing up, I was the only Catholic kid I knew of who didn't have any brothers or sisters. It's not as if people had entire litters or anything, but two or three kids at least. I was also the only one of my friends who lived with a single father. When I was little, I missed having a mother more than anything, it's only as an adult I've ( Read more... )

I wasn't there when the end came. I never heard the shot. Or I may have, but I hear guns going off all the time so if I did hear something, I wouldn't have known anyway. Especially not that far uptown. Afterward I kept thinking that I should have stayed after the fight. The way dad really wanted me to leave should have roused my suspicions, but it ( Read more... )

Does the past stay with us? I suppose it does. I don't live in the past as much as people might think. But I would absolutely say that the past inspires most of what I do and shapes who I am. So, in a way, I do take it with me always. I think about all of the people I've lost every day. Thankfully, it's not all bad. I think we owe it to the people ( Read more... )

I have to admit that I was sort of a bookworm as a kid. There wasn't much else to do around the house, we only had basic cable, and Dad didn't let me do sports. Add to that the fact that we never really went anywhere. If I wanted to travel, I had to use my imagination and that's when books came in handy. We didn't have very many books either, but ( Read more... )

I’ve had a few days in my life that seemed like they would never end. Usually, they come after one of those events that cuts your life into different chapters.

The first chapter of my life ended when I was fifteen. To say that the event that ended it was life-altering would be the understatement of the year. So much of who I am and what I do are ( Read more... )