I found out this morning that the brother of a college friend was killed in the theater in Aurora, Colorado. He was there with his two daughters; they survived, but he did not. The connection doesn’t change how I feel about the killings, or how I ache for those who lost their lives or lost…

It was a little after eight when the audiologist came out into the waiting room to get me. I followed her back to the room where we had sat the day before and I listened to her tell me about what could be done to compensate for my hearing loss. We looked at different kinds…

A couple of years ago, I started noticing changes in my hearing. When it came time for my yearly physical exam, I asked my doctor about sending me to an ENT and also to an allergist, since I have yet to find a season to which I am not allergic in North Carolina. His nurse…

A number of years ago a woman named Martha, who went to school with me at Nairobi International School (NIS) when we were both in ninth grade, contacted as many of us as she could and compelled us to get together again. The invitation was too good to turn down: I had not seen most…

“Until I met you, I would have been unable to name the transformation that was taking place. Today, at my late age, I name it — the fusion of love.”                — John Berger, And Our Faces, My Heart, Brief as Photos  bejeweled I have spent the afternoon in Old Havana(the sandwich shop, that is)with my…

for fireflies, while we sit in the darkafter another evening of almosts hasfallen all around us, all around us for a walk, since the storm that was almosta hurricane has done little more thanthreaten to bring rain, to bring rain to write a poem, you said as we walkedknowing it would do me good to…

I had thirty minutes to kill so I wandered through the mystery novels and how to booksuntil I found myself among the remainders books on their last legs making one finalappeal to be something other than compostwords someone meant once upon a time in between two volumes I cannot recallI found last year’s Chinese horoscope…

Tomorrow, the State of North Carolina where I live is voting on a proposed constitutional amendment that reads: “Constitutional amendment to provide that marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this State.” There are many of us who have been working hard…

Last night I worked down at Fullsteam Brewery for their “Take a Pint Out of Crime” fundraiser to help replace the smoker someone stole a week or so ago. I was happy to help out because they are my neighbors and it is The Friendliest Room in Durham. I want to help make sure they…

Today is a day much like any other day. In the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection, this is the day in the middle. Most stories have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Our Easter story goes the opposite direction, in a way, starting with the ending and then moving to beginning again. Either…