I've been wearing Aunt Shirley's fleece top. She didn't really give it to me. It was in a plastic bag with her other things when I left the hospital for the last time. I finally washed it all and then couldn't resist sliding the gray pullover on. It's comforting. You may have read a recent blog on this website, about the death of this fine lady a couple of weeks ago. She was widowed too. We had hung out a lot. Her presence was comforting and her absence is tough. I know scri

The eight days of last week were pretty long. If you saw the last "Hey, God? Yes, Charles." post, you know that a dear friend, Bettye, whose fingerprints are all over the book, died Saturday a week ago. Another blog back in December describes Aunt Shirley and me in the emergency room where I worried about her while she worried about pants. She died this past Saturday. Each of these women, both widowed before I was, influenced my life in profound and different ways ov

Toward the end of "Hey God? Yes, Charles." is a page of acknowledgments. In those acknowledgments is the name Bettye Morris. She's the dear friend who encouraged me a few days after Charles's service by bringing pen and paper and saying, "Write. It helped me after Chester died. Maybe it will help you." In a lot of ways, Bettye modeled for me how to be a widow. She had a 15 year head start. I watched her because she had experience but I tried to emulate her because I admired h

Like many good resolution-ers, I was back at it last week on the indoor track, virtuously working on good new habits for 2017. I wasn't expecting immediate results of course, so the payoff I got upon entering the gym was precious. I hope you can see the figures in this photo. They're a little far, hopefully back enough not to invade the elderly pair's identity. But there this sweet couple was, on the track too, walking hand in hand at their own pace. I've always been a hand

For real. Love can hurt. But if it couldn't, really, why would it matter? I just discovered this sweet performance of this theme. You will see at the end that this gritty little version is from an old VHS tape. Years before Dolly did her thing for her mountain family, this tribute to Roy Orbison was raising money for another good cause. And Patrick and Larry Gatlin answered the call. Funny thing about Patrick Swayze. From way back, he was always my favorite. I loved him profe