When A Child Is Afraid in His Own House — He was still crouching on the steps, his tight arms clutching his legs, even though everything had been quiet downstairs for a while. How long had he been sitting here? He did not know. All feeling of time, of space, even of his own body had dissolved in the fear…

Means of production are no longer necessary — Traditionally, capitalists own capital and the means of production, the factories and the machines. The robber barons of old may have been ruthless, but they produced steel, railroads, and cars and created modern America. …

A death sentence then — A friend’s son just had a bone marrow transplant, and his prognosis is good. This made me think about Norma. I met Norma when I was nine years old. Then she just was the sister of a boy I spent time with, David. David and I often went to the…

A specter from the past — Sometimes an image, smell, or taste can take us back to an experience that may otherwise have been relegated to a footnote in our personal biography. Just such an image took me back to a time and place almost 50 years ago. My father had collected us girls then for…

It’s emotional — I lost my mother when she was 78 to lung cancer and dementia. I mourned her, but it kind of made sense. She smoked from age 13 on, drank too much, and did not exercise much. She had perfect blood pressure and good genes, but eventually, her lifestyle won out. …

A quote — “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, I will try again tomorrow.” (Mary Ann Radmacher) Yes, courage is persistence when everyone else has given up. Courage is grit, hard-won in many quiet and sometimes tedious or desperate hours. Courage is…

A look back — I will be 62 this summer, which is a milestone birthday. I will be eligible for Social Security and thereby officially old, I guess. This made me think of all the milestone birthdays in my life so far. …

Or am I a failure at this? — I admit that I don’t write that much. I am usually a very busy teacher with all of the demands this career demands nowadays. I do love writing, however, and thought Medium would be a good fit. Lately I have been feeling that I am not making enough progress. Perhaps…

A fun evening — A math teacher had enough of the stress at school and decided to retire early. A co-worker from his department organized the event and invited the guests, mostly current and former math teachers, co-workers from his lunch group, and some miscellaneous people like me. …