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[ad_1] PASTMy big, strong dadMy dad was a sales representative for a series of companies which make walk-in freezers. His customers were restaurants and fast food chains. He worked for Bastian Blessing, Vollrath, Frigidaire and Masterbilt. After my mom and dad...

[ad_1] PASTI’ve always been small. If you believe that adversity builds character, then I’m a capital C Character, as I’ve encountered my share of bullies. But sometimes they bit off more than they could chew.This story can be told today because we have exceeded the...

[ad_1] DISTANT PASTOnce upon a time there were classes in art, music and gym from Kindergarten through senior year in high school.  Budget cuts, oversized classes and teaching to standardized test scores rather than comprehension and life skills have all taken an axe...

[ad_1] PASTOcean City 1973Most summers I spend a week at the shore in Ocean City, New Jersey. My Aunt Sue and Uncle Bruce generously host. From the time that I was a baby — in fact, when I was still in my mother’s womb — my family would go to Ocean...

[ad_1] Helen Boyd Marsland and Walter Stanley Marsland, Jr (my Pop pop)PASTA refrain which I heard frequently as a child was that I was “just looking for attention.” I had some intuition that this wasn’t a bad thing, but it was framed as just that by some of the...

[ad_1] PASTMe at Camp Harmony, Spring 1992This story takes us back to my adventures with the Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS), as recounted in Hot Mess Express. After my excommunication from the San Antonio Catholic Worker House, I became sick as a dog for a week....

[ad_1] PASTToday I have a facility with numbers and finances, but that wasn’t always the case. When I was a boy, I delivered papers for the New Britain Herald. It was an afternoon paper, back when there were such things. In my substack Capital C Characters, I wrote...

[ad_1] Taking a break from writing Lightning Bug every week since October 2023 has been helpful, in order to rest, ponder and organize ideas in my mind.  I like noticing what bubbles up to the top.  Today’s post is a nod to one of my favorite Beatles songs, but also a...

[ad_1] PROLOGUEWriting has held solace and meaning for me since I was a boy, sending and receiving letters to my Pop pop, Aunt Julie and Grandma Jones. In ninth and twelfth grades I had a superb English teacher named Kate Forney. Never do I put pen to paper without...