This is one of the funnier old family stories. My family believes that it documents the first time being a conscientious objector was used as a rationale to get out of military service. The concept didn’t exist in World War… Read More ›
Family
WE INTERRUPT THIS PROGRAM – Rich Paschall
When You No Longer Have a Home, Rich Paschall Jimmy knew it was not going to be easy. He had put it off for weeks, but after a while, the delay was just as hard as what he perceived the… Read More ›
MEMORIAL DAY: THEN AND NOW, THE DAY AFTER – GARRY ARMSTRONG
Time changes everything. It’s a given. Memorial Day is no different and that’s a shame. When I was a kid, Memorial Day was usually a family affair. It seems as if it was always sunny and warm for the gathering… Read More ›
HELLO, WE’RE HERE! – Rich Paschall
Now What? by Rich Paschall What do you do when friends come to visit? Do you plan a nice dinner? Do you stay in and cook or do you go out? Do you plan some activities or do you go… Read More ›
WHAT’S IN A NAME? – Rich Paschall
Would You Change Your Name? by Rich Paschall When I finally come around to writing a short story for SERENDIPITY, I usually get stalled at the beginning when I need to decide on character names. It seems to me that… Read More ›
THE SURPRISING CHRISTMAS – Rich Paschall
A family plus one holiday tale by Richard Paschall Kyle was coming home for Christmas. He was bringing with him his college roommate. The boys met during freshman year and became fast friends. Somehow they maneuvered the dorm manager into… Read More ›
DAD WAS *MORE* THAN A CONTENDER – Garry Armstrong
A friend emailed me info about a popular boxer who just improved on his very impressive record. I had to admit knowing nothing about the prizefighter. I’m a self-proclaimed baseball maven but know nothing about professional boxing these days. I’m… Read More ›
MY GRANDMOTHER’S EARLY YEARS – By Ellin Curley
My Grandmother, Sarah, grew up in Minsk, Russia. Her father was one of the very few Jews there who were allowed to do business with the Russian Gentiles. Therefore he was relatively well off. Grandma remembers her mother taking baths… Read More ›
ULTIMATELY, WE ALL ARE ORPHANED – Marilyn Armstrong
FOWC with Fandango — Orphan Although most of us never plan to go home again to live, there’s always somewhere, way back in our minds, the realization that if terrible things happen and everything else fails, we can go home. We… Read More ›
THE CIRCULARITY OF SPODE’S TOWER – Marilyn Armstrong
Blame it on my upbringing, the peculiar traditions of my mother’s family. We say “I love you” by giving each other stuff. All kinds of stuff. Art, furniture, gadgets, clothing, books, whatnots. We were never a touchy, feely, huggy family… Read More ›
NATURE VS. NURTURE – DOES HARDSHIP MAKE YOU STRONGER? – Marilyn Armstrong
Fandango’s Provocative Question #20 Kelly Clarkson song leverages something originally attributed to Friedrich Nietzsche, who said, “That which does not kill us, makes us stronger.” That quote is attributed to the German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche. Anyway, the song got Fandango thinking… Read More ›
DINNER TABLE CONVERSATION – BY ELLIN CURLEY
I was raised by well-educated, well-read, New York City intellectuals. My mother was a psychologist and my father was a psychoanalyst. In addition to seeing patients, my father wrote books and articles in the inter-disciplinary fields of psychology, sociology, and… Read More ›
