“Trust me,” I said as I looked at my wife. She was skeptical, I could tell. “It’s a four-wheel drive car.” I brushed the snowflakes off of my arm as we started up the hill. They had come in when I had rolled down the window to listen to a man who was frantically trying to keep us from continuing up Fillmore Hill. Of course, Kim was worried. She had
I was driving down the west end of Fillmore when I heard a loud pop. I watched in horror as the door, which had been securely fastened to the luggage rack on top of my Taurus station wagon, slid off and into the street. I quickly pulled into a parking lot on my right. “Stay in the car,” I told my sons. Then, dodging traffic, I ran into the street
I am alive today, and you probably are as well, because of antibiotics, vaccines, and an infrastructure that is unparalleled in history. As a percentage, fewer people die from communicable disease and starvation than at any time in history. And many of those contemporary deaths are due to lack of proper water and sewage treatment. In other words, they are preventable. This gift of life is due to the work
I was four years old, and we lived on the top floor of a fisherman’s house in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. I could see the ocean from my window, and our landlord often brought us fresh seafood. My father, a USAF radar operator, worked lots of seven day weeks and double shifts because of the Cold War and Korea. My mother was stuck at home, alone with no friends or family
I was seven years old, walking home from school for the second time that day. School was literally across the street, and Sister Marie sent me home to change my pants again. I had been sitting in my chair practicing my handwriting when the girl behind me screeched because of the urine that was dripping off of my chair and splashing onto her shoes. Unlike the first time, I wasn’t
“So are you?” the clerk asked as she looked at my check. “Am I what?” I answered. “A parent,” she said as if I should have known. “Yes, I am,” I replied. “And I have been all of my life.” Inwardly, I sighed. People have been having fun with my surname all of my life. In school, whenever the teacher asked for parent volunteers, everyone nominated me. This became especially
