A man in his 50s admitted on Facebook he was depressed about the changes he saw barreling down on society like a runaway train. He doubted the alterations were for the better.  As he is a liberal thinker, I supposed he was suffering from Trump fatigue and wondering, as I do, when our

A large book agency has asked to see the first 50 pages of my memoir, “Getting Lost to Find Home.”  I’m not turning cartwheels.  Most agents ask for sample pages as part of the query.  This one required a query before deciding to see more. Call it a baby step forward.  A req

Recently, a friend sent me a quote ascribed to the American anthropologist, Margaret Mead. It was her answer to a question that asked what constituted the first signs of civilization in a culture.  She said it would be a broken thighbone that had healed properly. In the wild, the dis

During the second impeachment hearing for Donald Trump, a woman with a sense of irony shared this line from George Orwell’s novel, 1984 on her Facebook page. The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.  The quote garn

In Costa Rica, or Panama or Honduras, wherever they’d migrated, when the piggy bank was empty, my maternal grandmother worked shifts in a local brothel to put food on the table.  She wasn’t a regular sex worker but rented rooms by the hour.  If she couldn’t afford the fee, she

The thief was furious when he found a 4-year-old child strapped into the back seat of the car he’d stolen.  His response was to slam on the brakes and reverse direction.  Finding the mother newly emerged from the grocery store with a gallon of milk, he scolded her for leaving her

His public defender said my testimony had saved his client from the death penalty.  I’d worked with the prisoner in an ex-offenders program while I was in public life.  His first incarceration was for theft. When he came to the program, I  found him personable and recommended tha

“I love America. I love the people. I didn’t hurt anyone and I didn’t cause any damage in the Chamber.  I got caught up in the moment and when I saw the door to the Chamber open, I walked in…”  These words probably capture the sentiment of many of those who took part in th

A friend at the retirement center sat down beside me one afternoon in the temporary lounge that management had arranged, its chairs set 6 feet apart.  It’s a place where residents are supposed to carry on conversations while masked. Despite her face covering, I heard a sigh as she

Spinning on a blue marble at the edge of our galaxy in infinite space, we humans continue to assume we have control over our lives.  Yet, almost every day science makes a discovery that astounds us.  Recently, astronomers learned they were wrong in their understanding of black holes