Posted July 06, 2022in Joe's Neighborhood
“I actually thought I’d die with the shears in my hands.” The old man stands behind his barber chair — his podium for an audience of one. He looks at me. He looks down at his notes. He reads carefully. “But a young barber came to me and said he’d
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Posted June 01, 2022in Joe's Neighborhood
The rain is gentle in Dublin, Ireland, unlike the hard rain in Iowa this spring. The rain washes down the old slate roofs, flowing into gutters and spilling into private gardens hidden in the back of buildings. High stone and brick walls keep me from spying on people dallying inside
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Posted May 04, 2022in Joe's Neighborhood
The mud-brown leaves, pressed flat and brittle by winter snow, swirl around on my blue tarp looking for a way to escape the mulch pile. A gust blows from the west. I run to the far side of the tarp to push the leaves back. A gust blows from the
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Posted April 06, 2022in Joe's Neighborhood
Sometimes it seems like the only thing you can win is the short end of the stick. Why is that? Did you break a mirror, walk under a ladder, step on a crack? Honestly, it doesn’t matter how careful you are, some days bad luck seems to be the only
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Posted March 02, 2022in Joe's Neighborhood
“The test is in the pneumatic tube,” the pharmacy tech’s crackly robotic voice says over the speaker. Great. But which pneumatic tube? With all the other tubes and pipes and columns in the drive-through lane, I can’t tell what’s what. There’s a whoosh, and suddenly the test appears in that
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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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