Dearest Rachel – I know that it isn’t that you wonder about the timing of my letters from day today; whether I get it out first thing in the morning or long after it’s gone dark is of no concern of yours. Indeed, if I were to be honest with myself, I’m forced to acknowledgeContinue reading “Only So Much We Can Do”
Tag Archives: complaint
Passing Another Milestone Upon the Verge of Joy
Dearest Rachel – Tomorrow, as you know, will be Thanksgiving. A day where we Americans collectively stop and try to remind ourselves how good we have it, and how we should be grateful for all those blessings in life that those of other places and times could only have dreamed of, as well as certainContinue reading “Passing Another Milestone Upon the Verge of Joy”
from Rachel: Grumbles in the Thought Closet
Think about what you say when you talk to yourself. Do you ever grumble? If so, about what? “Yes, petty annoyances.” According to Philippians 2:3, how much are we permitted to do from selfishness? “nothing” Rather than out of selfishness, we are to act with what? “humility” Are your grumbles more justified than theirs were?Continue reading “from Rachel: Grumbles in the Thought Closet”
Define ‘Temporary’
Dearest Rachel – At least it had nothing to do with the construction team. Shortly after noon on Friday, I had brought home lunch for Daniel and myself (well, since mine was a chorizo-and-egg burrito, it might been better characterized as ‘brunch’). We were hanging around in the dining/family room, surfing our various corners ofContinue reading “Define ‘Temporary’”
Closing My Eyes
Dearest Rachel – I don’t remember where I heard about it – probably in the Readers’ Digest when I was a kid; I spent a lot of time going through my grandparents’ cache of them, with particular emphasis on their monthly features on ‘Laughter, the Best Medicine’ and ‘Toward More Picturesque Speech’ – but thereContinue reading “Closing My Eyes”
If It’s Northbrook, Forget It
Dearest Rachel – I think I should feel sorry for the good citizens of Northbrook, Illinois. If my experience is any indication, they will never be able to call someone out of the blue and get a willing response. That’s because so many of these stupid robo-call emanate from their town. What’s even crazier isContinue reading “If It’s Northbrook, Forget It”
How Can I Miss Her…
Dearest Rachel – I will occasionally wonder what things might have been like had our roles been reversed that awful day. After all, freak accidents don’t just occur to the risk-takers, or they wouldn’t be considered freak accidents. I went down that hill a few times myself – I even lost my phone during oneContinue reading “How Can I Miss Her…”
Three Hundred Days
Dearest Rachel – Upon sending you my last letter, about the man yelling at the intercom outside the police headquarters, I received a ping from the WordPress application. In some ways it wasn’t much different from those that I get every day, complete with the standard ‘keep up the good work’ encouragement. But today wasContinue reading “Three Hundred Days”
What Am I Becoming?
Dearest Rachel – I don’t know how you did it, honey. And I don’t know how I’m going to be able to continue doing this. Or for how much longer. It may well be simply because this is a night when I need to wake up early; I’ve got to shower, change and be outContinue reading “What Am I Becoming?”
The Only Thing That’s Never Empty
Dearest Rachel – While I’d be more than willing to admit there are so many things I’d like to have back, I would settle for being able to hear your voice, and converse with you back-and-forth. I’ve mentioned not so long ago about how I wish I could compare notes about how you dealt withContinue reading “The Only Thing That’s Never Empty”
Darkest Night
Dearest Rachel – No light. No air-conditioning. No fans. No Internet. It’s truly been one of our darkest nights. Literally. According to Daniel, everything went sideways shortly before I got home from walking with Erin last night a little bit before eight. By the way, that was rather a washout in its own right. NeitherContinue reading “Darkest Night”
The Brains God Gave Gravel
Dearest Rachel – You may have noticed throughout the course of this these letters that I have written a great deal about Chompers throughout the course of my efforts to adjust to your loss and absence. And considering my general apathy towards him during your lifetime, I’m sure you would find that rather odd. ForContinue reading “The Brains God Gave Gravel”
Outage
Dearest Rachel – So, this evening, I had uploaded a video to YouTube to attach to a letter I was going to send to you regarding July Fourth and fireworks. I was working on the letter itself, and a few videos I’d taken from Saturday to add to the illustrations when… I could no longerContinue reading “Outage”
Not in the Night Soil Business
Dearest Rachel – Leave it to the Victorians to come up with such a quaint and pleasant-sounding term for a decidedly unpleasant job dealing with decidedly unpleasant material. In the days before indoor plumbing was common, human waste was removed from the privies and cesspools of urban dwellings and transported out of the city byContinue reading “Not in the Night Soil Business”
The Very Opposite of a Gift
Dearest Rachel – I suppose it’s my own fault for letting Chompers sleep so much during the day. But you know the old saying about sleeping dogs: I don’t want to disturb him. Particularly since Logan’s been over since we got back from Kevin’s place. I figured that Daniel and he can keep an eyeContinue reading “The Very Opposite of a Gift”
All the Responsibility, None of the Joy
Dearest Rachel – You’ve probably noticed by now the fact that the tags “dog” and “complaint” appear to go hand in hand on my letters to you. I know how much you wanted me to appreciate your love of dogs, but you just couldn’t manage; the best you ever managed to get from me wasContinue reading “All the Responsibility, None of the Joy”
Bathing vs Barking
Dearest Rachel – No, I’m not about to talk about bathing Chompers. I honestly don’t have a clue how to go about that, and if anything, I should probably set up an appointment with the groomers to deal with that at some point in the near future. After all, he needs his nails trimmed andContinue reading “Bathing vs Barking”
So Many Spinning Plates
Dearest Rachel – Home used to be a haven for me. I could come home after a hard day, even after spending a hour or two (or three) in a conference room being told by my boss that I was a worthless piece of, well, you know; that I was a huge disappointment to him,Continue reading “So Many Spinning Plates”
Parkinson’s Law as Applied to Dogs
Dearest Rachel – One of the results of my working (slowly and carefully, to be sure – I’ve no intention of throwing out anything you’ve written on that’s less trivial than, say, a one-time shopping list) on clearing… stuff… from your your side of the bedroom, is that the amount of room that Chompers hasContinue reading “Parkinson’s Law as Applied to Dogs”
He’s Your Dog, All Right
Honey – When I set out to write to you as a form of therapy, I expected to write, and for people to read, about the feelings I was dealing with, of the memories of the two of us (or the three of us – let’s not forget Daniel, and the fact that we didContinue reading “He’s Your Dog, All Right”
Letters to Rachel 