I don’t want the car drive home to end. Every so often, he reaches over and brushes his thumb over my knuckles and when I look at him, he gives me a dazzling smile. It has been a mere half hour since we left after the most romantic evening I’ve ever had and I wish I have the money to afford another night at the hotel. As we ride in the morning sun, I admire the coast by the road. The ocean is a deep blue, the cloudless sk...

Frankly the noise was a little too much for me. I'd only agreed to attend because it was Michael's son getting married and he'd asked me to be there. At my age, I'd long outgrown the naughty, rule-breaking fascination of bachelor parties. It was easy to look at the young men there, friends of the groom, see their unabashed antics and foolhardiness, and recall a younger version of myself acting as they were now. Drinking t...

One of those social gatherings that occur occasionally that you’re really not a part of but decide to attend anyway. More like a moon orbiting an outer satellite than a major planet closer to the star. Still after not deleting the invite I figured that they’d be quite a few old acquaintances that would be in attendance that it’d be good to catch up with them. The function room was crowded with some of the overspill freque...

Spring break, and suddenly the streets are full of sexy little numbers newly released from school and eager to show the world what they’ve got. Sugar and spice and all things nice for the most part. And the niceness of it: the shiny-haired, clear-skinned, smooth-limbed innocent perfection of it the unknowing knowledge of their little gaits and glances, their total self-absorption and god knows what womanly wickedness goin...

My evening began badly. I was lying on my hotel bed massaging my temples in hopes of exorcising the headache that was pulsing and throbbing in my forehead. Between a powerful winter storm outside and a twelve hour day of meetings at the tradeshow I was attending, I wasn’t really surprised that I’d triggered a migraine. The question was what to do about it. I’d already popped the requisite pills but they took time. Decidin...

Chapter: July “Stars in the Sky” *** Imagine a jigsaw puzzle. Not just any puzzle, but one of those multi-thousand piece monsters littered with detail and colors. Getting started is no chore; all you have to do is start with the border and corner pieces, set the structure for the big picture. Sort out the colored tiles and find a few of the more obvious pieces. Problems quickly become obvious for the uninitiated… crossove...

Becky and I had celebrated our eighteenth anniversary in April...if you want to call it that.   There wasn't much of a celebration.   We had grown so distant that neither one of us seemed to care anymore.   She had submersed herself in her work.   I was between jobs looking for employment in another town not really caring if I had to commute or even relocate.   We had little time for each other.   Little did I know, it wa...