She laid her head back against the lumpy, over-used pillow, trying not to think about how many people had died before her in this very same bed, on this very same pillow, sadly gazing at these same yellowed walls.

It was getting difficult to keep her eyes open; she could feel the weight of her body slipping away, but she wasn't afraid. No, she wasn't afraid anymore.

She knew what was coming, and if the medication she was on would allow for it, she'd salivate at the thought of…

We lie in bed, Saturday morning dawning upon us. My back is sore and my left arm aches, right down to the bone with what could be a sign of arthritis. My wife flips through the channels, pauses on an infomercial promising tight abs and sweaty workouts; the sweaty thirty-somethings smile, grimace as their bodies move to jittery seizures.“Do you…

I do not believe in fate, do not put any stock in destiny, and I don’t think things happen for a reason other than the extenuating circumstances that cause them to happen.

I’ll never believe a child struck down with leukemia is really a test for the people who loved him or her. …

“Hey Mom, what did you decide to do with your day off from work?”

“You probably don’t really want to know (giggle, giggle).”

 …

Born just after the end of a war, and none repeated since.

Childhood secure, parents responsible and caring - no trauma there.

Married the man I met at sixteen, and though there’s been been the usual minorly-cataclysmic compromises, there’s been no…

We fell asleep last night holding each other’s wrists. I felt a tiny pulse, the small semaphore of you, under warm skin.

It was the hand you paint with -- your right -- and I wondered whether more electrical impulses pass through it than through your left. Will the life force in that gifted hand be the last to blink out when you die?

I stroked your palm,…

Bald and skinny, 80 years old,  there was an energy about him men half his age lacked; he was trying to get from this place to that, and I was trying to get the store clerk to give him clearer directions, and between us we managed to draw four very different maps,  all of  which the old man cheerfully tucked under his arm.

"I'm gonna get on my Harley and RIDE, baby"-- we all smiled.

He leered at me and winked, "--wanna come? we could have fun, your old man wouldn't know the…

Dear husband, as I lay here dying, I'm running through the laundry list of things that you'll need to take care of after I'm gone and...ooh, add laundry to the list, and don't forget the fabric softener!

First, be sure to hug and kiss our boy at least once every day for me, and be sure to tell him it's from his mama.

Second, don't leave Sagey to fend for herself with those crazy people (and no, I don't mean my parents)!

Third, but seriously, speaking of my parents,…

Just so we’re clear, the rest of them talk about Cornhuskers here like they were gods who built the spaceship, discovered the moon, and pissed on it, not merely to mark their territory but, more importantly, for world-wide domination which, by the way, is more important than growing crops and raising livestock to feed the world in this here country.…

Doubts, fears, time restraints, a job or ten, the holidays, family, friends, stress, exhaustion, and a damn little voice in my head kept me from you.  Oh, they may all liken themselves to excuses like "the dog ate my homework" or "my dad wanted me to be a boy," but each one reeks of failure at being all things to all people.…

...

 “No, it’s just that the Doctor has been downloaded into Seven’s matrix and taken control of her body.”  He didn’t move a muscle.  He didn’t get it. Unlike the pair of young women, who giggled. So much for his cocky demeanour on set. I changed series. But not genre or trope. “My host Freya enjoys the tactile sensation of handwriting.” The thirtysomethings giggled again. He, on the other hand, he gave a sort of strained smile… probably wondering whether this…

...

The Lord condemns adopting any practices of the pagans around us;  the Lord condemns anything different from His Word as dark ignorance; the Lord  condemns bringing any item of false religion into our houses; the Lord condemns doing anything under green trees in His worship; the Lord condemns friendship with the world as becoming His enemy; the Lord condemns loving pleasure more than God; the Lord condemns the heathen use of decorated trees; the Lord condemns…

...Since you’re here anyway, he said, would you mind awfully being standing in for the Head of the Judging Panel in the talent show? It’s due to begin any minute and we’ve just received a phone call that the person you will be replacing (ah! so I had already accepted, had I?)  was held up in a domestic emergency…

It was explained to me that the said person had been baking Gingerbread Santas and had put all 60 of them down to cool on her new kitchen table.…

My mom was right when she said ,"Life is too short."

My dad told me through every struggle I brought to his attention, "Life is not easy."

My grandmother's insight in her old and wise years was to "Live each day to the fullest."

When I'd sob over the little things my friends would help me realize, "Life goes on."

My little cousin told me "YOLO; I'm about it everyday, everyday, everyday..."

Freakin' kids these days....

.......................................

I stood up (did I say I stand 6’1” in my stockinged feet?) and so he had to crane his neck to look at me – which he did, arms akimbo and legs at ten minutes past ten stance. Then he cocked his head to one side and squinted. Do I know you from somewhere? He croaked. I smirked. “Well, unless you’ve been to Finland, Lapland, Alaska, Siberia, the North Pole, and anywhere else that I have residences, it’s doubtful…

..........

Now if this were a story being written in comic strips, at this point there would be no recognisable words, but just emanata (straight lines rising from around a character’s head indicating surprise) from my head, grawlix (the series of typographical symbols to represent swear words) from the head of the aforesaid passers-by, waftaroms  (wavy lines rising from something indicating a strong smell or heat) from the mother to show she had eaten curry,…

....And then I saw it. In a distilled version of the Selfridges Christmas campaign – where they have a personalised shopping experience that includes, and I quote, boys dressed head-to-toe in dapper suits and bespoke bow-ties, and girls in super-stylish, festive red Vivienne Westwood dresses¸ the advert that jumped out at me read: Wanted: Tall, dark, and handsome Santa.

Now most people would be aware of who Andrej Pejic is; but not everyone would know why I mention him…

Sometimes I wish I could just disappear. When the sleepless nights, the stress and anxiety all start adding up and weighing on my shoulders like anvils of despair, I just want to close my eyes and leave my body and my troubles behind.

If you add up all the good moments - the promises kept, the laughter and the hugs, the positive impacts and the jobs well done - they would probably add up to a successful life, but at times I think my radar is off, because I can't shake those doubts…

If life was a board game, I would choose to skip my turn on days like today.

If life was a board game, I would always buy Boardwalk first, because I love the ocean and the sound of Arcade games dinging and singing and the smell of pizza and zeppoles.

If life was a board game, I would only mind not Passing Go because it meant I wouldn't get my $200 and I need that $200 to spend on the Boardwalk!

If life was a board game, I would choose to be the little silver…

The cricket in the corner kicks his song into high gear at 3:30am in order to compete with the alarm's shrill, and the sheet is kicked to the end of the bed because the air is heavy, dense, hot.

Still, coffee is what I crave as we read into the pinkening dawn, and hope is high that the heat will do its job, cook cook cook the clouds, pour blessed moisture over the land.

It is not a homogenized or homogeneous life, for my days are never the same and for sure nothing like yours,…