June 10

June 10th, 2018 12:30p

I am putting on my tennis shoes to go buy a bright orange UT-like VW Bug. I have owned 4 in the past and regretted ever selling my last.

I put the cash in my pocket as the doorbell rings.
Two cops stand on the porch.
Their words send me reeling backward, a gut punch. My back slams into the wall. The two words felt like bricks pummeling me. He’s dead.

A piercing wail forces me to turn. My wife has collapsed in the doorway. She tries to rise while also holding our daughter back, who screams. “What’s wrong?”

– from my book, God Is In the Doubt

June 10th, 2016 7:30am

I am sitting in a hospital waiting area as Donna is having surgery to hopefully fix a horrible skin disease that causes tearing. The phone rings and it is my mother informing me that my grandmother is dead.
My grandmother is the sweetest person I know and I was closer to her than any other family. She understood me, or did a great job of pretending she did. She taught me so many things, but especially patience, kindness, generosity, fairness, and how to cook intuitively. To her, a measuring cup was just another scoop!

June 10th, 2010

I am pacing around my yard wondering how my life has become such a grotesque joke. My daughter, Emily, should be born today. After her death, my business burned down, Donna’s health plummeted, and my faith in God was lost.

… June 10th … Not my favorite day.