Relationships

Several years ago, I was walking home from the bus stop, just letting my mind wander, thinking about nothing. After crossing a street, I happened to look down and saw a worm in the gutter that intrigued me. I was fascinated and stood there watching it for at least five minutes. I realize that no…

When I was a little boy, I lived in the small town of Afton, Wyoming. In those days it was a place where keys were left in the cars, doors remained unlocked, and it was safe to leave young children home.   On this particular day, my mother had to go to town, and she…

It was 1969, and I rushed home with four newly purchased boxes of Cracker Jack. Back then the infamous caramel coated popcorn and peanuts still came packaged with a prize, and I had a plan. I figured I needed four boxes to find just the right prize to pull off my plan without a hitch. …

The 24th of July is a state holiday in Utah, commemorating the 1847 arrival of the Mormon pioneers in the Salt Lake valley. Our pre-COVID family tradition, along with thousands of other families, was to attend the annual parade.   My parents lived a couple of miles from the spot we staked out every year…

The Call children, Melba, Bob, and Lois, my mother, spent many a delightful evening in Never, Never, Never Land, as it is always called in their treasured book, “The Picture Story Book of Peter Pan” by Sir J.M. Barrie. Their copy is illustrated with beautiful hand drawn colored pictures by Roy Best and was printed in 1931…

Medina, founded in 808 A.D., is 15 square kilometers (9.3 miles) of chaos, a twisting labyrinth of 25,000 buildings, 72,000 businesses, 350,000 residents, and 75,000 tourists who visit each day. I was immensely grateful it was the Moroccan driver we hired and not my son, Paul, or my grandson, Calvert, or even worse me trying…

The year started out on a high. I was living in Italy, having one of those grand life changing experiences so important in young adulthood. But that was cut short when I developed a kidney disease and had to return home for treatment. Even though my doctors would not allow me to do any physical…