I was nineteen years old and living in New York when I first met Juan. His family had come to the United States from South America, and he was proud of his heritage. He was a pleasant young man and a jokester. But one thing he especially liked to . . .
We attend a little country church in our rural community. I have been involved in many community events and have taken on lots of assignments that have come from the congregation leaders. Mostly I have worked in scouting.
On Tuesday of one week, I had . . .
It had been a hard year in our rural community. Lots of older people had passed away, leaving their spouses alone. There had also been quite a few farm accidents from which people were recovering. To add to that, farm prices were low, and many in our . . .
Cyrus was an old farmer and had worked hard all of his life. He was independent, but he was getting older and everything was just a little bit harder. Still, he was determined to maintain his independence and pride.
When the Boy Scouts came around wanting . . .
Donna and I had barely started dating. She played in the orchestra for a musical, so I went almost every night. One night after the musical finished, she invited me backstage. As we were mingling with other cast and orchestra members, one of them . . .
My daughter Heather had had a bad day. In fact, the whole week hadn’t been that good. She had started school, and there was a mixup in her classes. By the time she had that straightened out, a few days of class had already gone by. She then had to . . .
We were in a theatre production, and the men’s changing room was nothing but an old converted closet. We were stuffed tight in there, which made for times of joking, telling stories, and barely getting into costume before the opening scene. One night . . .
A truck was approaching, and I recognized some art work on the side and smiled. I thought back to the first day of class a couple of years earlier. The students were introducing themselves. When we got to Wyatt, his introduction was unique.
“I am . . .
Sunday, after church, we loaded our harp into the van, then, connected the van to the tent trailer. We were soon on our way to a music camp for our daughter Elliana to be part of an orchestra and a choir. We arrived at our destination shortly before . . .
I was scoutmaster to eighteen boys. On Tuesday nights I handled the scouting activities, but on Sundays, though I met with them in their church class, another man taught them. But one week, after he finished the Sunday lesson and everyone was leaving, . . .
My phone rang, and when I answered, it was Andy. “Hey, Daris,” he said, “can you come help me? My printer isn’t working.”
It was the early days of the internet, and most people didn’t know anything about it yet. A teaching salary didn’t . . .
I finished passing back the linear algebra tests that I had graded to my students. “Check the tests over,” I told them. “Check to make sure the points I gave you add up to the score that I gave you. Let me know if you have any questions, or if . . .
My scouts, like most young boys, were very competitive and always looking for an edge on everything. That seemed especially true when it came to food. They always wanted the biggest cookie, the best looking cupcake, or the largest steak.
I had only . . .
My son, Scott, and his wife, Janalyn, lived with us for a while this summer after graduation. His job didn’t start until September, and it gave us a chance to get to know Janalyn. Our life was quite a bit different from how she grew up. She had never . . .
Years ago, about the time Russia was opening up more to tourists from the west, three of my colleagues from the university decided to take a few weeks of their summer and travel there. They didn’t have any itinerary; they would just go and hope for . . .
I was an offensive guard on our high school football team. We had a good line. We worked hard and practiced hard. Our backs were incredibly talented, but too often, because of their talent, they didn’t practice to their full potential. Often their . . .
School was ending for the summer, and my roommates and I were all preparing to go our separate ways. Jim was getting married, so we all made plans to meet again at his and Michelle’s wedding.
Bruce suggested that we all pool our money and buy one . . .
My brothers and sisters have settled far and wide across the United States. This makes it hard to get together due to the cost of travel and hotels.
My mother bought a small condo that is somewhat central to many of us, and has invited us to use it . . .
My wife, Donna, looked out the window and saw two little girls. The girls are about nine years old and are good friends. Both of them are from single parent homes and have struggled in the tough situations they have found themselves in. We have watched . . .
As I stood in the grocery store checking my list, I thought I heard someone call my name. I turned around, but I didn’t see anyone I recognized, so I went back to my list. I heard my name again, but this time there was no mistaking it. I turned to . . .
As we finished our scout meeting, I reminded the boys about the next week. “Don’t forget that it is our monthly service meeting. We will be helping Old Widow Rosting clean out her shed, so come an hour early and dress in old work clothes.”
“Not . . .
I had forgotten what it was like to have small children around the house when we promised our daughter we would watch her three children for a week. We were really excited. They live about 14 hours away, so we don’t see them as often as we would . . .
I always like to sit and chat with my students before class starts. One particular day, as we visited, a young lady spoke to me.
“Professor Howard, I think I remember you telling us you have a cow that you milk?”
“Yes, Abby, that is correct.”
“Can . . .
It was the evening before Thanksgiving, and David stood in the stage wing ready to go on. It was to be his debut performance at one of the biggest, most famous concert halls in the world.
As the announcer welcomed everyone and talked about the many . . .
When Tina called, Sally could tell something was really wrong. Tina’s voice was panicked and tense. She was so tense, in fact, that Sally couldn’t understand what she was saying. Sally decided it would be best to walk to Tina’s house and see . . .