Paean to my parents

17May09

The parents watching their boys and my son Bennett in gymnastics didn’t turn their heads when I walked back up to the mezzanine after watching Carter at golf in a separate area of the sports complex.
“Did I miss any drama?!” I chortled, referring to two weeks past, when a spat between Bennett and two other [...]

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Cleopatra-style hair and cigarettes

08Mar09

Since I liked the number 17, I scanned the list of sponsors’ names and found the seventeenth:  “Ray W.”  The list was written in various inks and in pencil on poster board and tacked with thumbnails to the paneled wall over the water fountain.  I wrote down Ray W.’s phone number, sat through the hour-long [...]

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In the morning trash

15Feb09

 
Through the clear plastic recycling bag and pressed against the Tropicana orange juice carton and Dannon yogurt cups, I saw a flattened cardboard six-pack container for O’Douls Amber.  One of those “fake” beers.
 
“Ah,” I thought.  “Another alcoholic lives nearby.”
 
This was on 85th Street between Broadway and West End, about two blocks from home.  It was [...]

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“One small step for man…”

07Sep08

She always said, “Don’t walk out five minutes before the miracle happens.”  Harriett (not her real name) was morbidly obese, probably around 300, 350, and she drove a yellow Pinto station wagon she’d bought for $200 from a friend in her AA meeting group.  Her husband, after they had divorced, had been executed for a [...]

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My Life So Far (Part 1)

12Aug07

Filed under: AA, Annie Lamott, Boston, Cider Hill Farm, Easter, Jesus, Jorge Buccio, Manhattan, Massachusetts, Mother's Day, Puglia, bipolar disorder, children, dreams, family, heaven, home life, parenting, people at work   |  Leave a Comment