SHORT STORY FRIDAY: For You To Come Home

“A writer should have this little voice inside of you saying, ‘Tell the truth. Reveal a few secrets here.’”

Quentin Tarantino

It’s Short Story Friday.

Try to contain your enthusiasm. Others are trying to read.

I hope.

We’re heading into what may be our first real spring-ish weekend, even though the official start of spring is a few weeks away.

Today’s story is a little more personal. When I was working on it, I tried to convert it to third person. That didn’t work.

The Write Side Shop

I’ve written about my Dad and his death on several occasions. No matter how long I live, no matter how much distance there is between today and that awful day, it will always have been too soon.

His birthday is later this month. Had he lived, he would have been 93. We lost him when he was 49.

As always, these stories are a work in progress. I’m committed to getting out one every Friday, with the hopes of reaching the intended goal of thirty-one stories. That’s a hint about the project, by the way.

I can’t move on without acknowledging that the world remains in turmoil. Keep paying attention.

And keep praying.

Here now is today’s story:

FOR YOU TO COME HOME

I stood in the phone booth at the corner of Grand Concourse and Fordham Avenue.

I was working in the Bronx for Christmas. I’d gone there with a few dozen of my friends from college where we planned to spend our Christmas break ringing bells and raising funds for the Salvation Army.

I didn’t expect him to answer. But when I called, my mother was still at the grocery store.

My work assignment in New York City was almost over. The eyes of a Southwestern Virginia teenager had been sufficiently opened.

My plan was to travel home the day before Christmas Eve.

He answered. My uncle was there. There might have been alcohol involved.

Our conversation was awkward, like it had often been.

But it was a voice from home.

I told him a little about New York. Probably more than he wanted to hear. I asked him what he would like for Christmas. His answer was simple.

“I just want you to come home.”

I didn’t realize it at the time. This may have been the last time I talked to him on the phone.

I would have only a few days with him at Christmas, and only two or three short visits over the next few months. My plans to travel with a ministry team meant that I would be gone over the summer.

In what was perhaps their only vacation since they had children, my parents traveled to Georgia and Florida in July to see me perform with the ministry team. I joined them in Florida for a few days.

The last time I saw him was as he stood at the bus station as I rode away to rejoin the tour.

It was raining. I pressed my face up against the window of the bus in a goofy gesture that meant both I love you and I miss you.

Through the rain covered windows, I saw him for the last time.

He would not see another Christmas holiday.

My world would be changed forever.

A few days after I returned to the ministry team, we drove north to spend time in Michigan and later Pennsylvania.

On the morning before we were to leave Michigan, I got the call.

My friends hastily arranged my flight. The family we were staying with drove me to the airport.

The trip was a blur.

Even though that was over forty years ago, the memory still lingers. Every bit as vivid and every bit as important as it always was.

Had I known at the time what the next year would hold, I wonder if I would have done things differently.

Maybe. I think I made the choice that he would have wanted me to make.

I wish I could call home and ask him.

English actor and singer, Murray Head, Judas Iscariot on the original concept album version of Jesus Christ Superstar, was born on this day in 1946.


 

THINGS YOU SHOULD READ

Putin nuclear threat part of new escalation policy
The Washington Times
U.S. officials have expressed concern that the doctrine opens a pathway for using “low-yield” nuclear strikes in conflicts when a nation’s conventional forces are stymied, as appears to be taking place for Russia just over one week into its military operation in Ukraine. Read More.

Joe Biden’s State Of The Union Previewed Dems’ Fake Attempt To Walk Back Their Culture War
The Federalist
Democrats cannot simply pretend the summer of 2020 and the lockdowns never happened, no matter how much the media might help them try, because the party has now spent years committing to inflated definitions of bigotry that would condemn any moderation from their positions. Read More.

Democrats Want Us to Forget All About Their “Defund the Police” Stunt
Matt Malumbo at Bongino.com
It’s only now that the violent failure that is the “defund” experiment is impossible to ignore that Democrats are trying to switch sides in the culture war, but they can’t run from their past comments. Read More.

Democrats turn against mask mandates as Covid landscape and voter attitudes shift
NBCNews
Behind the shift is a blend of science and political science. Read More.

U.S. shale oil forecasts keep rising as smaller producers lead the way
Reuters
U.S. shale production is set to rise 109,000 bpd this month to 8.7 million bpd, according to U.S. government forecasts. In the largest U.S. production basin output will hit a record 5.2 million bpd. Read More.

BORN ON THIS DAY

1908 – Rex Harrison, English actor (d. 1990)
1927 – Jack Cassidy, American actor and singer (d. 1976)
1936 – Dean Stockwell, American actor (d. 2021)
1955 – Penn Jillette, American magician, actor, and author
1958 – Andy Gibb, English-Australian singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1988)
1963 – Joel Osteen, American pastor, author, and television host

WHAT I’M READING


 

BENEDICTION

The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.

Numbers 6:24-26

 

Observe

I need to go somewhere to people watch.

I’ve spent the greater majority of the last two years sequestered in my home office.

While I will gladly tell Marie that yes, most of the things surrounding me do indeed spark joy, they don’t always spark story ideas.

One of my favorite writers is Sean Dietrich. I’ve mentioned him before. And I’ve mentioned that I’m the Santa Mike of which he writes in The Absolute Worst Christmas of All Time.

To be clear, he does not blame me.

Sean has a gift of writing. Oh, he’ll tell you that he struggles and maybe he does. He’ll tell you that he dropped

Mugshots

out of school and took a long time getting a degree, and that’s true.

He’ll also tell you that he’s always been a writer or a reader.

I’ve mentioned before that I was in my fifties before I went from saying “I want to be a writer” to “I am a writer.”

It’s made a huge difference. Even if I’ve not hit the New York Times Bestseller List…yet.

But let’s be clear. Writing is hard work. Sometimes I agonize for hours over a simple blog post.

One of the things I like about Sean is that he’s just so darned good at writing about his observations of daily life. The simplest encounter can turn into something profound.

So, I’m realizing that I need to get out more.

Oh, we’ve not lived in seclusion for the last 47 years of our house arrest. But we’ve not been out as much as we would have liked either.

What I need to work on is paying attention when I do get out.

Steven King and Ray Bradbury, and I think even William Faulkner, encourage writers to read all that they can.

It’s also important to observe. To watch people. To experience life.

There are those in my day job who don’t want to return to the office downtown. I have days like that. But when I get there and remember my view, well…

I need to get out there.

I mean I’m a writer. I need to do research. I can’t get all of my inspiration by searching Google.

Speaking of which, if my ticket is punched prematurely, please come and clear my cache.

On this day in 1931, The United States adopts The Star-Spangled Banner as its national anthem.


 

THINGS YOU SHOULD READ

The New Poll on Glenn Youngkin Released That’s Shocking Pollsters
Townhall
New polling from Roanoke College shows that a majority of Virginians approve of the job Youngkin is doing after two months of delivering on his campaign promises. What’s more, Youngkin’s approval among Virginians is nine points higher than President Biden, signaling more trouble for Virginia Democrats running in the approaching November midterms. Read More.

‘This President Needs To Get His Act Together’: Rep. Spartz Slams Biden Over ‘Genocide’ In Ukraine
Daily Caller
“This is not a war, this is a genocide of the Ukrainian people by a crazy man who cannot get over that Ukrainian people do not want socialism, Soviet Union, communism. They want to be with the United States of America, they want to be free people.” Read More.

White House pushes back on Biden’s ‘Iranian’ flub by insisting he made a different gaffe
The Washington Times
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, wasn’t buying it. “The president only mentioned Iran one time, and it was literally by accident,” Mr. McConnell said Wednesday of the speech. Read More.

Death and Life
Walter Fenton at Global Methodist Church
On Ash Wednesday, we remember who we are and who it is that gathers our stories of death and life into his great story of our redemption through his cross and Resurrection. Read More.

“You’ve got to live somewhere you aren’t afraid to die.” Contemporary Ukrainian Poetry From Kharkiv
Literary Hub
“How did we build our houses?
When you’re standing under winter skies,
and the heavens turn and sail away,
you know you’ve got to live somewhere you aren’t afraid to die.”
Read More.

BORN ON THIS DAY

1911 – Jean Harlow, American actress (d. 1937)
1920 – James Doohan, Canadian-American actor and soldier (d. 2005)
1921 – Diana Barrymore, American actress (d. 1960)
1962 – Jackie Joyner-Kersee, American heptathlete and long jumper
1962 – Herschel Walker, American football player and mixed martial artist

WHAT I’M READING


 

BENEDICTION

The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.

Numbers 6:24-26