Thoughts from Under the Tree
Thoughts from Under the Tree Sitting beneath the craggy live oak Its dappled shade falling on my own limbs So peacefully, So quietly. It’s a time to let my mind wander. So, why does it lead me to Wounds, both fresh and old Angers and affronts, both real and imagined?...
Chapter 2. Here comes the Son
One of my earliest memories is running naked through the house after my evening bath to find my father, my Papa, for the nightly ritual of his taking me into his arms, and calling me his little “Naktfrosch” (naked frog). But it was not the frog label that stuck as a...
Unlikely Couple
I lived the first half of my life trying to live according to whatever I was “supposed to do”. My older brother was charming, handsome, and most importantly, male. My younger sister was fiercely independent with a bigger-than-life personality. I was the mousy,...
177 Seang Teck Road, Georgetown, Penang
(some language may be off-putting) In the 30s my father’s father built two houses at the edge of town. He lived in one and rented the other. By the 60s, the houses were in the middle of town and the mile-long street was a bustling hodgepodge of enterprises and homes....
Chapter 1. How it Started
I have been an elder or, speaking politically correctly, a senior citizen for some time now, taking advantage of discounts for concert and movie tickets and playing the age card when all other attempts at persuasion fail.
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Chapter 4. Challenges and CelebrationsThose times were BP, Before Penicillin, and there were a number of serious childhood illnesses, which were expected for most children, like rites of passage. I only know from being told that my first severe illness, which had to have included some pain, was a kidney infection when I was just a baby. I don’t know how this was treated, but the after-effects would follow me into my teens due to my mother’s lifelong concern for my plumbing […]
Chapter 3. Coping With Change1943 – The shelves in German stores may have […]