Kansas 1886 Jason Cahill sat in front of his stone fireplace on a bitter cold January night, a medical book in his hands. But every few minutes he would glance up at the clock on the mantel. A minute later he looked sideways at the front door. “What is taking so long?” he murmured. At almost the same time he had spoken these words, there was a loud rap on the door. Jason stood up quickly and unlocked it. Outside, a full moon at their backs, two tall men in ankle-length coats and Stetsons waited. Between them they carried something long and heavy, concealed in a canvas bag. ...continued...

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I had a best friend while we were living in Gold Hill. Her name was Gail Stevens. We were really close. She's part Native American. She told she was part Cherokee. One day while we were at recess, we decided to sneak off and go across the road over to the cemetary. To this day I'm stillnot sure why we did it, I guess we were just curios. Well we were walking around and came up to a shed. All of a sudden we heard a noise, it sounded like a ghost, being only 6 years old you would think that we were scared, well we weren't. Next thing we know the grounds keeper jumped out ...continued...

Out-back in the Wallangie Bush by Pamela Boles Eglinski The sign read CLOSE THE GATE BEHIND YOU. I heard the telltale click and knew I’d entered another world – the Australian bush country. A small caravan of off-road four-wheel drives labored over parallel ruts in the red earth. “Easy to get lost if you fall behind,” Charlie said, pulling hard on the wheel, trying to skirt a jagged mound of rock. From the back seat, I sucked in air and held tight to the handgr ...continued...

~~A BOOKWORM AT GIRL SCOUT CAMP In the 1950’s my family moved from a little Missouri town to the small town in Indiana where my father grew up. We lived with our grandparents for a few months while my father started a new job and we found a house to rent. My little brother and sister, ages six and five respectively, roamed my grandparents’ big back yard and the neighborhood, but I asked if I might read the old books I saw in the parlor bookcases. My grandmother, usually so strict about us not touching her possessions, gave me permission. I read from books that far exceeded my s ...continued...

Chicken or Dare I have a history with chickens. Not a good history either. As a matter of fact, the appearance of a leg of chicken on my plate brings me flashbacks of a long ago visit to my great grandmother’s farm during one of our frequent trips to Smithville to visit. We called our great grandmother Ganny. Her real name was Zelma Lizzie Christine Franz Kunkel. My older cousin inspired the name Ganny since he was the oldest of our generation. There wasn’t anything magical abo ...continued...

SURI’S HEART Kishinev, Moldavia A House in the Jewish Quarter December 1846 by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields “Yussel!” Papa pounded the table with his fist. & ...continued...

The Marvels of Movement Dancing is like dreaming with your feet! ~Constanze: During my mom’s dementia journey, movement often inspired and connected us. Here is one of those magical moments, excerpted from my book, Love in the land of Dementia: Finding Hope in the Caregiver’s Journey. The story is set in my mom’s memory care unit. ** Rochelle, the activity director, sticks in another tape and soon Stardust is playing. images “Let’s dance,” she says, motioning everyone to stand. Mom looks up and I offer her my hand. ...continued...

The catfish in my photo weighed over (100) pounds and was at least 40 years old. (I didn¹t catch it but I know who did and they let me borrow the big fish for this picture.) When you¹re having a bad day think of this big Blue Cat¹s degree of dullness. Day after day searching for food hoping not to find a hook attached, only able to see an inch or so in front of your face and about all to look forward too would be periodic mating. I¹m not even sure how much fun that would be considering you couldn¹t see the stranger you¹re hooking up with and ...continued...

Throughout the history of the world, philosophers and religions have disagreed on many things. But they have all agreed on one thing …only one! You become what you think about. Read that sentence again. Most people hear it, but don’t truly understand it. You become that which you think about most of the time. We place value on material, replaceable things and very little value to the most irreplaceable thing of all. Our freedom of thought. Thoughts establish Habits, Attitudes, and Emotions&hellip ...continued...

It was started in the birthday of my cousin his friend in "pisonet"... I never thought he will be part of my life... We drink until morning, His close friend one of my cousin also introduce him to me... I just smile at him and I just said nice meeting... And to be corrected no sparks on that time... He thinks at first that i have a crush on him but sorry I'm not easy to get... After those drinks we meet in our brgy agan but we dont talk I just look at him he look at me also... then time gose by thesame area again... My cousin his bestfriend starts to make an issue betwe ...continued...

My entire world changed, days before my eighth birthday. The years of pain and stress had taken its toll on my guardian angel. I awoke one morning to find her out of sorts. Something major was happening to her health. The last I remember of this time was trying to talk to her, but she had gone deaf. I watched her intently as she sat in front of her dressing table getting ready to go to the doctor. Little did I know that this would be the last time my guardian angel would be with me. My mother suffered a stroke, and was left paralysed the ...continued...

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The first thing in that I can remember is sitting on a stool in my grandfather's house. We were gathered around the fireplace. The stool was a homemade affair, built square and a bout 24 inches tall. Which was about the same height as I was. The room was lit with kerosene lamps whose soft glow competed with the fireplace to light the room. It was about an even match. I was playing with a piece of kindleing about two feet long and about a half inch square. It had been split from a fat pine stump and was hard as iron. For what ever reason I decided to hit him on the head a ...continued...