An Old Dream Reignited

 Fifty years ago I dreamed of being a writer. I clung to that dream for two decades before coming to the abrupt realization that, truth be told, I was not ever going to be a writer.

Eleven years ago, I started writing my four blogs, because those stories were burning to be told, and through blogging I could publish them without having to be a commercial success. Basically, they are the autobiography of someone that nobody has heard of.

A couple of weeks ago, I listened to a book about self-discipline, and an unexpected by-product was the abrupt realization that, truth be told, maybe I could be a writer. I signed up for access to firstwriter.com, and Carmen gave me their Writers' Handbook for Christmas. The result: today I submitted a story to Please See Me magazine's writing contest. More submissions to more publishers to follow.

Stay tuned for updates! 

A Christmas Story

 I love this memory from 1976. I was a beat-up depressed person, back in Vero Beach after the Bicentennial craziness that nearly did me in, back working as a forklift driver at The Packers of Indian River grapefruit packing house. My best buddy Doug and I spent our lunch hours playing cards, so I knew he loved cards. I had (and still have) a deck of solid plastic playing cards that he admired, so I bought a deck for him. Also, he and his wife often took their canoe out to the waterways around the county, so when I saw an advertisement in the Miami Herald for a book about the "Canoe Trails of Florida," I bought one of those. 

On Christmas Eve I walked over to their house to drop off my neatly wrapped presents. Doug invited me in. His wife was on the couch with a map of Florida. "We want to go canoeing tomorrow, but we're having a hard time figuring out where to go," she said. I handed her the book. "I reckon you'd better open this now." 

They were delighted, of course. She took the book and began digging through it. "So, you want to stay a while and play some cards?" I did . Doug went looking in drawers and shelves all through the house. "Honey, where are the cards?" She didn't know. " Sorry, man, I can't find the cards. "

"I reckon you'd better open this now, " I said. 

The next day, my depression eased up. Merry Christmas.