Posted February 02, 2022in Joe's Neighborhood
The two young girls shared nearly everything. No surprise. The Great Depression guaranteed a certain equality even though the girls were four years apart in age. “So you shared your sister’s dresses?” I ask. “Of course,” she says. “Weren’t you tired of only wearing hand-me-downs?” She laughs. ‘Well, my sister’s
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Posted January 05, 2022in Joe's Neighborhood
It began when she was 14 years old. Secret voices. Shameful desires. Unholy thoughts of suicide and mayhem. This went on for 26 years until she had enough of the demons and took drastic action. She went to a convent, was restrained in a bed, and was surrounded by the
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Posted December 01, 2021in Joe's Neighborhood
And Sister Marla Smith’s eyes light up. Trust me. Holding her thin hand and rubbing her thin back, I sit quietly beside her wheelchair. She smiles, and I swear a light comes into her eyes. I know what you’re going to say — it is all malarky about the “eyes
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Posted November 03, 2021in Joe's Neighborhood
“Aging is a journey that many don’t experience. They were born old, and they die old.” The parking lot is full. Men in dress pants and jackets. Women in dresses and skirts. Many my age, but I recognize only a few souls. In hushed voices, we enter the church. It’s
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Posted October 06, 2021in Joe's Neighborhood
My wife and I have major parts of our bodies that have never seen the light of day. The endless white sand beaches of southern Portugal are baked in bright sun, sprinkled with salty air, and filled with thousands of people up and down the coastline. Families, teenagers, the very
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Posted September 01, 2021in Joe's Neighborhood
This is not going to be an unbiased examination of John Sarcone’s tenure as Polk County Attorney — with an accompanying hard-hitting look at why he prefers Italian sausage sandwiches to beef burgers. Sorry. Nor is this going to be a tell-all about Sarcone’s staff and why some of them
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Posted August 04, 2021in Joe's Neighborhood
It’s time for a visit between two women with 192 years lived between them. “When I was in Indianapolis during World War II, I lived in a large house that only boarded girls. I was 17 years old.” My 94-year-old mom sits low in the front passenger seat as we
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Posted June 30, 2021in Joe's Neighborhood
Taking a whiz? Really? Everyone has to start somewhere. Perhaps it’s your first car, or it’s your first day after graduation, or it’s your first baby, or it’s your first love, or it’s your first Monday back in the office after a year and a half appearing for work in your
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Posted June 02, 2021in Joe's Neighborhood
The end of one time and the beginning of another. The goldfinches land on the feeder, quickly eat, then dart away. Dine and dash. They don’t hang around with the other birds for small talk and local gossip. But they have been long forecasting the change from winter to summer,
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Posted May 05, 2021in Joe's Neighborhood
The reading of the second book is always the most challenging. I sit next to my 2-year-old son and force my eyes wide while reading that riveting thriller “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.” “From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere.” Ain’t that the
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