As a part of a division 1 college cross country team, I am true thankful for the opportunity that others could only wish for... Unfortunately, theres always a dark side to everything that happens in my life. As a freshman, I ran terribly. I was nervous, scared, and always depressed. I was varsity but with terrible times. I grew and matured as most college kids do and by my sophomore year I was leading the team. I consistently ran in the low 19s and led the team with an iron will to win. The down side is that my coach despises me because I am not the type of athlete who sucks up or lays at some ...continued...

Prologue: She could’ve asked him what he was doing. Where he was going. But she wasn’t stupid. Through glazed eyes, she watched from the doorway while Aaron tossed clothes into the open suitcase in the middle of the sagging bed. His face was hard, his jaw set. Though an icy silence hung between them, Mandi sensed that hot rage simmered just below the surface. And that it could erupt her direction at any moment. But he didn’t look at her, didn’t speak to her. Why should he? What was there to say? There’d been ...continued...

Happiness is not being pained in the body or troubled in the mind. There was a time not so long ago when I could barely walk or move easily at all. My livelihood was being taken from me and I was depressed and miserable. Doctors told me that my arthritis could be managed but that it wouldn't get any better. Well it DID GET BETTER. Because I did something about it. I educated myself, I learned to lap swim. I listened to my body and developed a bodyrolling technique. i experimented. I found myself out of necessity chasing arthritis relief nearly everyday. I also found that with out a doubt a ...continued...

Watch Out For Bears Read any literature from Yellowstone National Park today and you’ll find all sorts of warnings about feeding the bears or otherwise interfering with their normal beary kinds of activities. Occasionally you may see in the news a sad story about some unwary hiker, or worse a tale of some misguided nature nut who thought he could commune with the wild beasts, who gets mauled by a bear. People know, for the most part, anyway, that they need to stay out of the bear’s comfort zone. Which is why I just can’t under ...continued...

Today I meet him accidentally, he look at me and I look at him also... But I tried to regain myself and talk to other person... So that I can move on and forget that he played my feelings... Now I'm writing this as part of my memory... I know memory hurts but time will heal everything... ...continued...

Published by Central Methodist University © 2011 My roommate at Central Methodist University, Fayette, Missouri, was Max Nickerson (class of 1960), but everyone called him Snake. He helped his dad run Nickerson’s Zoological Gardens. Snake was my roommate during my freshman year and always had a stash of exotic wild meat, rattlesnake being one of his favorites and mine as well after I adapted to the idea. Snake had been bitten by a cottonmouth when he was a youngster and lost is index finger down to the second joint. His trademark, in addition to other things was sticking the s ...continued...

Our 42 hour confinement to our tents was ended today as the storm eased up enough for us to continue north. Our drift over the storm took us further west than we wanted to the 129th Longitude. We ran into many open leads and had to wait until the ice moved back together allowing us to cross. It was incredible to witness and very scary to cross. We gained about 5 miles north today but our progress was halted by thin ice. We made camp and will wait till morning to try and cross. Needless to say that in the north polar icecap there is very little to smell. No plants and so few animals a person ...continued...

The way I see it is if I am so unhappy with how I look on the outside then I need to seriously buckle down and deal with it, only I am so addicted to the chips and the pop that I feel it is my crutch. I end up at the store buying things I dont need without even giving The big blow out! Mom entered my room, I can only imagine after grilling my sibling about her weight, spending habits and other things. She was on the war path and it just so happened that I was the nect victim. I heard a knock which lead to her helping herself into my room as though she owned it. To be honest, she pays the ...continued...

Next Chapter Kansas City exists to provide individuals age 50+ opportunities for learning, employment and meaningful community engagement on a volunteer or paid basis as they discover the next chapter of their lives. Next Chapter Kansas City provides you a community of like-minded individuals who are also at a crossroad and seeking opportunities to use their time and skills for the benefit of their neighbors, the whole community, or for tackling global issues. Next Chapter can connect you to resources, volunteer opportunities, learning circles and networking opportunities. For more in ...continued...

Because our Mother left when I was 4 and my brother Rich about 18 months old, we were reared primarily by our Father. As a truck driver, Dad was gone 5 to 6 days a week, when we were cared for by a great Aunty who lived downstairs in our duplex home. A true product of the Victorian era, Aunty was born in the 1880's. In her early 40's she had begun to be crippled by rheumatoid arthritis, and by the 1940's was badly incapacitated, hands gnarled, back stooped, knees and hips painful and deformed. She always had someone living with her to help ou ...continued...

My First Ozark Mountains Camping Trip by ROLLAND LOVE http://ozarkstories.com I was eight years old the first time I camped in the Ozark Mountains. Dad and I pitched our tent on a gravel bar on the Jacks Fork River. For dinner that evening, we ate fried squirrel and corn on the cob from Mom’s garden. I sat by the firelight and dreamed about the big fish I would catch the next day as red and yellow flames cast shadows that danced like ghosts at the edge of darkness. The full moon and so many stars made the sky look like a silve ...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...

I was born on November 14, 1933 at 1307 Rhomberg Avenue at around 6 AM during the middle of the depression. As most of the birth's at that time, it was not at a hospital. Dr. Bacon was our family doctor and he was present at my birth. Dr. Palen, who was related to Pop, was just coming up the stairs when I left out my first cry. Paul was downstairs and Dr. Palen told Paul that he had the baby in his bag. I think Paul believed that for decades. Mom says she always wanted a black haired baby and she got one in me as I had a lot of it. ...continued...

On his special day, He wants me to attend his birthday, he always remind me that I need to attend his birthday and I promise him that I will be there... therefore I feel so special on his birthday... We drink in that evening after that we go to bar and have some more drinks and eat more foods... But something went wrong and I'm shock of what I see it happened I meet his girl friends that I didnt saw before... Due to alcohol I feel so jealous immidiately but still I manage my posture on that day... 1am in the morning I ask per ...continued...

I vividly remember writing a story about a Strawberry Queen, just before my 11+ exam (I had just read Alice in Wonderland). I was rather proud of my surreal composition but my headmistress, who for unkown reasons was taking our class, told me that if I wrote rubbish like that in the exam I didn't have a hope of passing. Beware of throwing me down a gauntlet! I was only one of two in my class who did pass the 11+. Not that it did me much good. With parents that never stayed in one place very long and this being during the period when w ...continued...