Letting Go is Hard

In two days, my wife and I take our son to MSU for his first year of college.  He will be living in a dorm and away from home for the first time.  Already, the memories flood my mind.  Where did the time go?

I've always known this day was coming but never did I imagine that eighteen years would pass by so quickly.  Seems just yesterday that we brought him home from the hospital.  So little and helpless.  Then, before we knew it, he was toddling around the living room with his little football wanting me to wrestle and tackle him.

He was an adventurous young boy at the park, often climbing on the monkey bars and jungle gym equipment and making me hold my breath when he'd get higher than what I wanted him to.  But he'd safely climb his way back down.  Oh, the days for Happy Meals at McDonald's and the Playland tunnels where he never wanted to leave.  Once I had to climb through those tight tunnels and get him because he thought if he hid at the top, we wouldn't have to go.

His aptitude to identify and learn words came easily.  He read words off flash cards at age three.  Then came preschool where he was quick to make friends.  Good friends.  And when he entered first grade at my Alma Mater, he made new friends.  He had good teachers that made learning fun, and he discovered new subjects that have kept his interest all these years.

He learned to swim quickly and like a fish, he loves the water.  There were the glory days of Little League Baseball and basketball.  Hiking, fishing, and rock climbing.  The Giant Corn Maze in Huntsville.  Six Flags.  Camden Park.  King's Island.

We've had many pets--mice, rats, snakes, spiders, chickens, ducks, frogs, turtles, dogs, and cats--over the years.  Our mini-zoo.  Like his parents he loves science.

I have so many memories and mental photos that I treasure.  And now, my little boy is a man.  He's grown and matured into a wonderful person that I am so proud of.  I am honored that he is my son.  And yet, I have to wonder how eighteen years crept past me at such a rapid pace.  In some ways, it seems like I blinked and here we are.

Son, study hard and do well.  We love you, and we're always here for you. 

Seeking the Facts

"You can't handle the truth!" Jack Nicholson's line in A Few Good Men.

Great line, but the sad fact is most people cannot identify what's true in this world. Most accept lies and deceit as fact. Or maybe it's laziness and the unwillingness to dig and research to discover the truth for ourselves. Weigh reality. Look closer. Maybe we'll all see something we've overlooked. The truth is out there. You just have to search for it. Don't let others dictate what the truth is. Find it for yourself.

New Chapters and Steps Forward

After a few years in the making, Ann Linden and I have finished the screenplay for Predators of Darkness: Aftermath.  So many readers have commented on Amazon in their reviews that the novel would make a vividly dark movie.  And now, we have the screenplay ready, and the next chapter in this work begins.

The hunt is on to find an agent, manager, producer, and/or director who will read the script.  Things don't get easier, but having a good story and script is the first step.  Of course, Morton has already starting packing and sporting Hollywood shades.  He's always ready for new adventures, and he knows how to steal the show.

More details later . . .

21 Years Ago--RIP Bubba

Yesterday marked twenty-one years since my eight-year-old brother was shot and killed.  This happened the day after our mother's birthday while she was working one mile away from the house.  He and our twin sisters (age 9) were home alone and walked to my stepfather's house less than a quarter mile away.  No one was at home there.

The day before, their father had been teaching them how to shoot a .22 rifle.  Alone, they heard a sound outside and grabbed the loaded rifle from behind the pantry door.  My stepfather's philosophy was "an unloaded gun is more dangerous than a loaded gun."  So he also kept his guns loaded but not locked away.

They took the rifle, went outside, and fired a few rounds.  Back inside the house the gun went off and shot Bubba in the center of his stomach.  He bled to death within a matter of minutes.  He died before my mother arrived and well before paramedics came to the scene. 

The medical doctors at the hospital tried to revive him, but the surgeon told us that the bullet had hit his stomach aorta.  She said that had the bullet gone one inch to the left or right, he would probably have survived.

Bubba would be 29 years old today if he had survived.  I miss him greatly and wonder what he could have accomplished with his life.

If you own guns, please lock them up where children cannot get to them.  Never leave a loaded gun where a child has access to them.  Guns aren't toys, and if you own them, be a responsible person.  If you cannot, you don't deserve to possess them.

Virginia Beach Vacation

Last week I ventured to VA Beach with my wife and kids.  The people along the strip and inside shops and restaurants were some of the friendliest people I have had the good fortune of meeting while on a vacation.

This was the first time that we were able to take our children to the ocean, and they really loved it.  Even after the long ten hour trip, we headed straight to the ocean and jumped waves.  My son kept a smile from ear-to-ear as the tide came in with harsh, pounding waves that could knock your feet out from beneath you.  It simply amazed me at how quickly we no longer felt tired and found ourselves at ease and relaxed on the sandy beach.

We had rented a room in Norfolk a couple months prior, and since it was on the beach, too, we thought we'd spend more time in Norfolk than Virginia Beach.  However, Norfolk's beach was nasty with dead crabs and fish everywhere.  The water had lots of seaweed and clutter, too, so we returned to Virginia Beach each day.  The beauty of Norfolk's beach, though, came early morning as the sun rose on the horizon.  To our surprise, we watched adult dolphins feeding with their babies.

Back at Virginia Beach, late one evening while we were walking the Boardwalk, we were approached by a young lady with Gold Key Resorts.  She asked how our vacation was going, and the next thing we knew, she was hitting us up with a well-planned "Time-Share" sales pitch.  Normally, I run from such things, but we were promised four tickets to a dolphin site-seeing boat ride the next day and a 3 day-2 night hotel stay to use over the next year.  So, during the hottest part of the next day, we sat in a nicely air-conditioned hotel and listened to the Time-Share pitch.  We turned down the investment, but we did receive the gifts promised to us.

The next day we went to Rudee Flipper boat and spent over an hour on the ocean.  For about thirty minutes, we never saw a dolphin, and I began to wonder if we would.  However, after we got past all the busy parts of the beach and where fewer boats were, dolphins seemed to be everywhere.  My wife took dozens of pictures.  We saw a lot of baby dolphins, too.  Some places in the water were schools of dolphins, and by the time we returned to shore, we probably saw over 100 dolphins in total.  It was a fantastic time and something I hope to do again soon.  These are memories to last a lifetime.

RIP, Ray Bradbury

It is sad to hear that one of the greatest science fiction writers has passed away.  Ray Bradbury was a great influence on me and my early writings.  I read The Martian Chronicles when I was a teenager and immediately knew that I wanted to create worlds and stories of my own.  I have, but with a much different flavor than he so secretly mixed.

Bradbury had a wonderfully unique way of phrasing his sentences with depth and wonder.  The stories he told were visual as you read.  That's how he became a stellar author.

RIP, Ray Bradbury.  We lost a great man today, but your work lives on.

Devils' Den FREE this weekend!

Devils' Den, my YA Dark Fantasy/Horror, is currently FREE this weekend in Kindle and digital formats.  Devils' Den

Happy Reading!