In the early 1980s, I was on my higher education journey at SUNY New Paltz. Writing Composition, I and II were new things required of all first-year students. Like many college youth, I thought I knew everything and was totally confident in my abilities even though that confidence was based in absolutely no academic...
On November 30, 2021, at Oxford High School in Oxford, Michigan, a little after one-o’clock in the afternoon, Ethan Crumbley, fifteen-years-old, exited in the boys bathroom with a semi-automatic in hand and started shooting. Four students were killed in the attack, seven injured, and hundreds left with deep psychological shock and trauma that will...
As I have written about, I am a Covid “long-hauler”—that is a person who is struggling with symptoms long after I am “cured.” The week leading up to the vaccine was a tough one. I was suffering extreme exhaustion and flu-like symptoms. I was barely getting home to crawl into bed. The conversation I...
The day started out like any other; jokes with kids, attendance, writing, discussions. I had a small class for remedial reading, a good class, all boys. Then the voice came over the loudspeaker, “Lockdown, lockdown, lock down.” We all knew exactly what to do. I turned off the projector. The students scurried to corners...
It has been a little over a year since I suffered from the “flu from hell” that drove me to the doctor three times in one week. On my last visit, the doctor said, “I’d test you for that virus going around but I don’t even have tests.” Each time I visited the doctor...
So, how’s the online teaching going? I will tell you. In my 11th grade English class, we are starting with a unit on the American Dream. I get twenty-five minutes of live camera time every other day with them and I try to maximize that time. Today, I am introducing the unit with the...
I have two dogs; a fat old beagle named Libby, and a little, spunky Westie named Corky. Since the pandemic started, and I am working from home, it is my job to take them out first thing in the morning. This is what happens. Libby runs to the door, cries loudly because I am...
I learned genealogical psychometry from my mother in-law. She could hold things and tell a story, not necessarily a psychic story and I’m not even sure they were the true stories, but she was a collector of family stories and there were quite a few of them. Her house was crammed with antiques and...
I have been volunteering for about year as a facilitator for an organization called The College Guild. Their website explains “The College Guild provides non-traditional correspondence courses to prisoners across America.” The courses are free, non-credit courses and available to any prisoner no matter their circumstances. Every three weeks or so, I receive an...
Last year, when my mother was hospitalized, it became clear that my father’s “forgetfulness” was no longer simple forgetfulness. He was suffering from dementia and he needed help. Also, he was blind in one eye and he was still driving. My family made it clear to my father that he could no longer drive...
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