I sit here on a hot summer night and think back on the opportunities of a lifetime, and on a life dearly missed. Saturday was Father's Day, and for the first time in many years, I didn't need to buy a cheap card or make a phone call. The card is no big deal, in and of itself, as Father's Day is merely a Hallmark Holiday. The phone call stings. ( Read more... )

Dad's been on my mind again lately. Well, not exactly Dad, but his house and the farm. I can't help but feel the total emptiness, the hole in the world. The house is there, the farm is still there, but the sounds, the sights, they're not any more. It's been hitting me as I lay down to sleep...the thought that his house is dark and empty. His ( Read more... )

Stuck in the rut of grading another set of exams. Soul-suckingly bad. I gave them all comments on their short writing assignment to help them improve their writing styles, and it went in one ear and out the other. I swear, it's like they've never used the written word before. College is just another hoop for them to jump through before they get ( Read more... )

Not much to report on this end of the wire. Life is beginning to return to some shade of normal, but a pale one at that. Pat and I had a huge fight at the funeral, something that I thought would keep us apart for a while because of his attitude. Most of the relatives, myself included, didn't know how to approach Pat or how he was handling ( Read more... )