ALL that is left is the story

I stood next to the canvas windbreak, rather than sit on one of the plastic chairs facing the casket. The sky was gray, the wind cold and piercing. A few cows with snow on their backs watched from yards away. Beyond the cows, the land they grazed stretched for miles. The small and remote cemetery was surrounded […]

The dignity of work

I turned from the entrance at The Café in Naples, and almost knocked her over, plates and all. I grabbed the tray and held it with one hand, and her arm with the other, and lost not a glass. She was on my weak side, a few inches under 5 feet tall. I could tell […]

Who Are You?

What are you? Who are you? Are you what you have done? Are you close to whom you want to be? Are you what you have seen and thought, or perhaps written? Your adventures? Experiences? Your mistakes? How you made amends? Who you have loved and lost? Or who you have helped? I asked Mandy, who […]

1968

I went to my high school reunion this week. I am not going to say which one. Well, alright, I will, if you insist. It was the 50th reunion. I have known most of these people since I was 12 years old. Several are life-long friends. When I was in the hospital for most of 2017, […]

A Letter to My Donor

“We have a heart for you,” Doctor S. said on September 24, 2017, a few hours before midnight. It had been nearly a year since I almost died and was offered this heart. I came out of a coma after nearly a month, bearded, hands strapped to the side of the bed, tubes everywhere, weak, emaciated, […]

Survivor

It has been a long time since I have written much of anything. My new heart is working well. Only seven months ago today, I was gifted a new heart. It is hard to believe that this morning I walked two miles and lifted weights on my new weight bench by the pool. I am […]

“Sailor traveling the world stops in Orlando for new heart” -Orlando Sentinel

This article is reposted from Orlando Sentinel. See the full article, including a video here. Sailor and Florida Hospital patient John Allen, 67, never planned to end up in Orlando. “Work has brought me all over the world,” said Allen. Allen, a world traveler and engineer, spent his life planning and plotting adventures across the […]

I Want to Go Outside

I cried today, because I went outside. A year ago, I wanted to sail around the world. It took years to get my boat, Ariadne, ready for this long journey. She was at the entrance to the Panama Canal, ready to pass from the Atlantic to the Pacific on February 6, earlier this year, 2017. […]

Judging or Judgmental?

I went to church today. It isn’t a Catholic church. If my mother were alive she would say, “You are going straight to hell for setting foot in that place.” I even took communion with the pagans. That would leave no doubt in her mind as to my eternal fate. I hope she is busy […]

Mary Stole a Kiss…and Melody Cried

It feels strange walking into that place, but the folks here are my friends now. I keep going back and have been for months. On the surface, I have little in common with these people. A few are good friends but everyone is kind. The folks who work there all greet me and ask how […]