Monthly Archives: September 2011

RAY SAT ON MY lap in that dimly lit, soundproof room, and we looked at ourselves in the mirror until a speaker on either the left or right sounded off. When my boy heard it — sometimes a pitch, sometimes … Continue reading →

I DUG THROUGH BOXES of kid stuff I stash for later filing — 2029 at the earliest — and I still could not find the form letter, that peculiar birth announcement template some use to break the news that their … Continue reading →

WE MADE IT BACK to the trail head outhouse before Andy messed in his cute Spider-Man tighty-whities. But once we got there, my boy refused to do the very thing that prompted our about face a half mile into our … Continue reading →

CARL NAPPED, DAVID ASSEMBLED his new desk in the basement and I cried without a sound for about 20 minutes on the couch that afternoon. Baby Andy kicked in my belly, and I knew it soon would be time to … Continue reading →

THE BAKERY WORKER HANDED us hairnets and invited us behind the counter to show us how she could transform an ordinary cake into one wishing Grandma Van a happy 59th birthday. The kids tugged them on and watched as she … Continue reading →

CARL AND I WOKE before the rest of the family that morning and hit the road to pick Queen Anne’s lace for Grandma Van. The road, in this case, was the chip-and-seal type with gravel shoulders that ran past the … Continue reading →