Ken's Ten Thousand ThingsFamily & Personal
The “Second Half”
Working up to my 50th birthday, I decided to stop digitizing the rest of my old files — if anything was that important, I would have done it by now. It’s not a lot, just enough to add to the filing cabinet, which uses far less drawers worth of stuff than it used to. Between […]
Cemetery Tribute
{Sent to my step-family in Arizona to read at the graveside service for my Father} My feelings and admiration for my Father have never been a secret kept from him or anyone. There was never a time when he wasn’t my hero, my role model as a human being, a man, and a husband and […]
Dad, a New Life
It’s been over a month, but I still don’t know where to start. So many things. So many feelings. My Father passed into Eternity, and my faith and memory of him brings me a peace in this, but it’s still hard, so hard. I have to keep reminding myself that Jesus wept, too. Anyone who […]
Our Pumpkin Patch
Merry wanted to be married in a pumpkin patch, but we just couldn’t pull it off. I wanted a traditional Christian priest, but the Roman Catholic Church doesn’t perform outdoor weddings without a dispensation. I called the Episcopal diocese, then Greek Orthodox (where I had friends), Russian orthodox, and possibly a few others, but their […]
Letchworth
Letchworth I remember as a child old black-and-white movie reels projected on a wall. One of them was footage of a trip taken by my parents and grandparents to Letchworth State Park. I always meant to go ther some time with Merry and finally got the chance. Earlier this year, a reunited friend from high […]
Almost a Past Life
Almost didn’t go to my 30-year high school reunion. The idea felt weird in an age of already keeping in touch with Facebook or people you already see regularly, and many of whom you really didn’t know well enough to keep in touch with in the first place, and have become essentially different people. But it […]
To Have a Pet, or Not Have a Pet
I love animals. Part of me wants to take most of the ones I see home, cuddle with them, love them. But the reality is different. First, I never liked caged pets. Logically I understand that most of them don’t mind and feel safe in a limited space, being well cared for otherwise. But eventually they die and […]
Finally Snowing
It’s dark and the recycle truck is finally picking up. And it’s finally snowing — really snowing to where it doesn’t melt when it touches the ground. It’s felt like Mother nature hit the pause button for too long. It just didn’t feel right and I’ve been out of sorts. It’s been often warmer here […]
The Odd Stillness of Indian Summer; Reflections of Bellwood
It’s not every day in November that you hit 80 degrees and hover near there for a while. Or my wife is right to be surprised that I am surprised by something that to her seems typical. It just seems the world’s out of place, out of time. Perhaps that is why I had a […]
Will the Force Awaken?
It’s hard to describe in a way most people will truly appreciate, but in a way, two things sacred to me as a child were Star Wars and Disney. They were part of how I imagined the world could and should be. But I’m all grown up. I still believe in Santa Claus, in Chivalry, […]