It’s late and I’m restless. After the two deaths last week at our church here in Durham, word came that one of the dearest souls in the Marshfield church died unexpectedly. Grief, like my depression, sends me searching for songs in the middle of the night, mostly looking for old friends to comfort me. I…

In the quiver of lies called depression,the name of the sharpest arrow isYou Have Nothing To Say. Forgetwhat the flowers told you, or the giftfrom the little one in front of you atthe drive through when she smiled. How can you give voice to the joy ofa snuggling Schnauzer, or speak tothe grief that rises…

I went to work at five this morning so I could leave early to get to a funeral. A dear soul in our church, Bryant, who was, as his son said, both a gentle man and a gentleman died last Friday. Ginger said the family had asked for someone to sing “In the Garden,” which…

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been listening to Mark Heard as I’ve gone about my business here in Durham. For those of you who don’t know of him, Mark was a wonderful songwriter, thinker, and singer who died way too young and left an enduring legacy of music (much of which is available…

Moving into our new home here on Iredell has been different than moves to Charlestown and Marshfield for any number of reasons, but one most significantly: we didn’t have to redo the house from top to bottom to get in it. The folks we bought it from did that for us. We have done some…

The assignment was simple: meet at the catering shop to pick up the food and then go to the site to cook dinner for eight people: Appetizers:curried crab cakes with cucumber yogurt dipping sauceendive leaves with roasted beets and bleu cheese Salad of pea shoots and mixed greens with dill, chives, and mint with a…

Eighteen April 21sts ago, Ginger and I were married in the First Baptist Church of Irondale, Alabama, surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses and a wedding party whose picture rivals the cover photograph of The King Family Christmas. We got engaged on August 12, 1989 at the Hard Rock Café in Dallas (when there…

Today is a significant day in the Brasher-Cunningham household, since it’s the day we invented the Brasher- Cunningham household eighteen years ago (more about that later). The importance of the day is enhanced because Dunkin’ Donuts opened its doors this morning at 5 a.m. — and we were the very first customers. I’ve got the…

april gave us springtime and the promiseof the flowers and the feeling that we bothshared and the love that we called ours butI can’t help but have my suspicions ‘causeI ain’t quite as dumb as I seem; tell me howcan you stand there with a broken heartashamed of playing the fool but isn’t thatthe way…

I’ve heard tell of those who rolled cigarsin Havana and how they would choose oneto read each day, the others making up hisshare of the quota so they could hear storiesthat took them beyond the little rooms wherethey rolled leaves for the pleasure of others. I live in a town built on the stories of…