I’ll take the night before Thanksgiving over Christmas Eve any year. Christmas Eve is a tired ol’day, worn out by the flurry of activity preceding it, and by the time it arrives, usually too soon, it’s all out of breath as it plops its burden of stress and strain—last minute shopping, checklists, nagging questions (Did …
When I first heard the news of Joe Paterno’s failure to do more to protect the kids in the case of Jerry Sandusky’s alleged crime, my first thought was, “Say it ain’t so, Joe”—the line the little boy supposedly spoke to baseball legend Shoeless Joe Jackson as he walked down the steps of the courthouse …
We had just left the Hindu temple when I noticed the red dot on my mother’s forehead. It was the “tilaki,” the third eye or mind’s eye, associated with many Hindu gods, also symbolizing the idea of meditation and spiritual enlightenment. I, a recent graduate of a high school education, feeding on my scholastic possibilities, …
I couldn’t take it any longer. Fatigued at the end of the work week and convinced my St. Louis Cardinals would not survive Game 6 of the World Series, I turned the light off and was fast asleep by 11:15 p.m., EST. Early the next morning, Lori asked me who won. “Oh, the Texas Rangers …
“Cause it’s a bittersweet symphony, this life Trying to make ends meet You’re a slave to money then you die” —The Verve, “Bittersweet Symphony” The first time I saw one of the many people in the “Occupy Wall Street” movement holding a sign that said, “We are the 99%,” I thought, “That has to include …