The Orange Sofa
When I first met my late partner/fiancee Sue Ashe on a dating app, she lived in Garner, North Carolina, about 30 miles from my home in Durham. It was just Sue and her ever-loving cat Malcolm in what the residential complex’s property management company called an apartment home. Like Sue herself, her living space was […]
Watercolors
Her husband Their father Her brother A life-long dear friend to many Their talented up-and-coming Muni-Bond analyst Our loving son ……each of these people only in part define one person, our son Rick (Richard), who was taken in November 2022 as he and his spouse, Maria, planned an extensive Thanksgiving Day gathering. His 37-year-life was taken in a manner that made little sense to any of us after a short bout with Influenza A which was diagnosed on a Saturday in autumn yet he died of cardiac arrest on the front steps of his home 18 hours later while waiting for
Calling Long Distance
I wake with a start. Something isn’t right. No matter the hour, I need to call. Grabbing the phone, I dial Dad’s area code. I can’t remember his number. I panic. This makes no sense. We talk every Sunday. Tears flood my eyes. Truth pierces. It’s been nearly a year, since he died. Yet, he lives, in my dreams.
Her Reflection
Her eyes smile at the corners. Her whole face is a smile. Even at rest, she exudes joy. Contentment. Comfort in her own skin. Her fingers expertly search the counter for deodorant, toothpaste, a hairbrush. These are the items she uses daily, quickly, to prepare to face another day. She’s half dressed, leaving her shirt until the last preparations have been finished. Almost imperceptibly, she takes the smallest moment to check her appearance in the mirror. Her eyes dart from her brushed out wave of curls to her chest where a long maroon scar peeks from her bra. In one fluid
