Short Autobiographical Stories

Most of the Deadly Sins

The idea of spending two weeks of the Costa del Sol with three friends sharing my passion for bridge sounded delightful. Of similar age, I assumed...
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My Man

My man is so clever I'm ever so proud. I n'er miss a chance To praise him out loud. If he frowns when I cook I'm sure I'd agree That things taste...
Cherry

Second Grade Scandal

I loved going to school but cried on the first day because I had wanted Sister Martha, who used to give the children crackers to eat after they’d...
Cherry

The Gypsy - part 1

THE GYPSY part 1 My neighbor, Gladys and I were sitting quietly in my kitchen having coffee and biscuits and our bi-weekly chat about our children,...
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Cherry

The Gypsy - part 2

Part 2 For a few seconds after I returned to the table neither of us spoke. I was quite sure that the gypsy was smoldering at her lack of success...
Cherry

The Letter

I hadn't liked her at all. Not many people did. She was loud and rude and critical and demanding. But now that she is dead, I guess I shouldn't be...

Drama on C3 - part 1

Part 1 Before the drama commences, just a quick note as to how I came to be on C3 which is the surgical/urology ward at the local hospital.. One...

Turkish Delights

“I would like to take you to my bed ---.” These words, whispered softly but quite sincerely absolutely threw me. What was going on here? Why did this...

Frank and his cat (The Odd Couple)

When I was 21, I lived in New York, on Staten Island, and worked as an Dietitic intern. It was a wonderful year, and I made many very good friends...
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For Elice

I was a Foods and Nutrition major in the Home Economics Department at North Dakota State Universiry. I didn't really enjoy food that much, but this...

Betty and Bruce Come to Visit (or what makes Americans Ugly)

Scene 1 As scene starts, the view is a small train station. Jean and Philip are standing on the platform waiting for the two carriage train to arrive...

Family Meals

Jeff: Oh, I see we are having roast beef for dinner today. I hope it’s Aberdeen Angus. You don’t know for sure? It’s the only kind of British beef...

Going Home

When I met my future husband, almost the first question he asked was “Are you prepared to live in England?” I suppose if I had said “No”, that would...

Wedding rehearsal

I've played the organ since I was 13, and was much in demand to perform at weddings all through my teenage years. On this occasion, I was 19 and the...

The Ring

Having been told by my step-mother that I should have a good search through her apartment and take what I liked, really hit my gready bone. I am a...

Holiday in America - part 1

A few months ago, I wrote an introduction to the big trip to America which I was about to take, and it is only fair to say that I was dreading. This...

Holiday in America - part 2

To say the drive across half of the States was uneventful would be untrue. But the only events were the beautiful scenery and the perfect weather...

Holiday in America - part 3

Church was lovely. Kathleen and Mark go each week to a pretty modern church, and the priest, Father Pat, is an interesting man and a good friend of...

Scary Nights (IP)

“There's somebody on the porch,” whispered my sister Judy, in great alarm. We were alone in the house, our parents having gone on a trip to San...

Letter from America - September 25

Hi I'm sitting in the breakfast area at my Comfort Inn motel, with free computer use - so I guess I will try to keep a sort of log of my trip. I flew...

Letter from America Saturday Sept 27

Hi Thanks everybody for your comments from yesterday. I can't spend too much time on the computer as there are others wanting to get on it too. We...

Letter from America - Monday Sept 29

Hi I did write yesterday, but I must have done something wrong, as it doesn't appear to be here. I'll try to remember what I said. It was my son's...
Cherry

What's In a Smile?

“It's so nice to see pictures where you are smiling,” she said. We were going through the picture album I had quickly assembled before I'd left on my...

The Warning

It was a week before Christmas and I so wanted to finish painting the living room before my husband returned from his conference. He hated it when I...
Cherry

The Out of Body Secret

Having had the letter from Grace, we were prepared for her phone call. “Your dad is not doing well. I think you had better come home,” she said...
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Not Afraid

Not Afraid “It’s not death I’m afraid of – it’s the process of dying.” I've said that over the years to various people. Having a strong faith in life...

Phantom Freakout

I practically live on my computer. It's the first thing I turn on when I get up in the morning, and the last thing I turn off at night. It lives...
Cherry

The Trip - part 1

My son left home 18 years ago – and has only been back for a long weekend once since. So his 28 years of accumulated junk has for the most part...
Cherry

The Trip - part 2

The Trip – part 2 “You must be Barbara Day,” said the lady at the motel as we walked in. At first I thought that I was special in some way – to be so...
Cherry

the Trip - part 3

The trip part 3 The next day our plan was to go to Gem Mountain in Spruce Pine, North Carolina. I had no idea what this would entail, but Jenny had...
Cherry

The trip - part 4

Trip – day 4 Abingdon, the little town where I was staying, is very much a tourist trap – with loads of antique shops, gift shops, interesting old...
Cherry

The trip - part 5

On Sunday, we decided to go and visit a cavern. We had gone to the Bristol Caverns, quite nearby, last year, and I saw that there was something...
Cherry

A poem for Samuel - aged 3

We couldn't find her for ever so long When Grandma came on the train We were waiting along side the track And she was stood in the rain First we went...

On Shaving

I must admit I don't shave my legs very much, except in the summer when if the temperature allows, I wear shorts. But I must also admit a miscarriage...
Cherry

Christmas in Bury - part 1

The pattern for my Christmases is to alternate between my two daughters – one lives in Chester and the other in Shipley, Yorkshire. This year it was...
Cherry

Christmas in Bury St Edmunds - part 2

Part 2 - Other Grandma's house Jeff drove us to Horringer, the suburb where he had grown up. He knew Bury a bit, as he had had a moped and was a...
Cherry

Christmas in Bury St Edmunds - part 3

Boxing Day We decided we would have the in-house breakfast at the Premier Inn. There was a choice of a Continental breakfast for £6.99 and a Full...

Thalidomide

I watched Call the Midwife this Sunday, and, as usual, thought what a wonderful programme it is, to not shy away from the huge problems that the...

Sarah

I have a telephone friend who called last night after an unprecedented period of time without ringing. I should add that she always calls me. I never...
Cherry

I Hate the Word Love

I hate the word Love. Let me give you an example. My step-mother, aged 98, says she loves me whenever I speak to her, and expects me to say it back...

The Uninvited Guest

I like living alone. I like doing my own things, when I want to. I like not having to weed my garden, that only I see, or dust my house, that only...

The House that Badger Built - part 2

Having returned from my week's babysitting stint, I was anxious to get to my garden and see what had happened to my uninvited guest. I suppose I was...

The Plop Thickens - part 3

Steve, my builder, fixed my front door so that the latch would connect without slamming. He then kindly said, “Is there anything else I can do for...

The Officials get involved - part 4

On Friday morning, I entertained my U3A reading group. Our subject was the book Philomena, which we all thought was far too long, had too small print...

Trip to Say Goodbye - 1

Two weeks ago, I was packing my bag, and the thought that predominated my mind was, “In two weeks, I will be home again.” It was a very long two...

Trip to Say Goodbye - 2

Tuesday morning Cathy and I left her house and drove to her dad's Foley, but stopping en route at the Hmung Market.(pictured above) This place has...

Trip to Say Goodbye - 3

Knowing that we had only 400 miles or so to cover, Larry wasn't in any big hurry to start in the morning, but we did get going about 7.30. The...

Trip to Say Goodbye - 4

We got off to our early start, and as soon as we had gone ten miles down the road, it was time to change our watches back by an hour to Mountain...

Trip to Say Goodbye - 5

On Friday our Quality Inn provided a very nice buffet breakfast, and we took advantage by having waffles and omelettes and a little bit of just about...

Trip to Say Goodbye - 6

We got on the way about 6.30, but didn't want to arrived in Portland before 2, as we had said we would have had lunch. We were to drive to my niece...

Trip to Say Goodbye - 7

Mary K was sure that Kathleen's nearly comatose state was not typical, and that she would be all right the next day, the day of the family gathering...
Cherry

Trip to Say Goodbye - 8

Cathy got up early on Monday and went for a five mile run up to Mount Tabor. She didn't get a very good view of Mt. Hood and was disappointed about...
Cherry

Senior Moments at Christmas Party

I belong to our local Senior Citizens Association. I joined in order to play in the scrabble group a few years ago, but also volunteered to set up a...
Cherry

Good Luck John

I haven't used this site for a long time. But I haven't forgotten about you. I regularly think about Rhiannon and wonder how she is getting on with...
Cherry

50 Years Ago Today

July 31, 1967 It' was already hot at 6 a.m. when I woke up. This would be the last time, I thought, that I would be sharing a bed with my sister,...

Brenda

Brenda has been my bridge partner for the last 13 years or so. We are about the same age, and level of ability, but our friendship has been very...

Good Bye

Continuing my theme of people dying, this has been a busy week. I had two funerals to play the organ for and each had its own challenges. One of the...

My new neighbour

As I mentioned in my previous piece, I have a new neighbour. I will call him Ben, and he is in his late 50's and is short and has white hair. He has...
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My brand new plastic eyes

I am not sure whether they are plastic or glass, but am guessing glass would have too many problems if one fell. When I was five or six I went with...
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The King of Misery

We were recently challenged to create a card game based on people's emotions. How it works is completely up to us, but presumably there has to be a...
Cherry

American Visitors

My nephew, two nieces, one husband, and a great niece and nephew came from America to visit me this weekend. They are doing a three weeks trip of...
Cherry

April in Paris 1990 - Part 1

I was very excited about out trip. I'd never been to France, before, much less Paris. And it is such fun to go off with Philip on our own, without...
Cherry

April in Paris 1990 - part 2

The Cambronne Hotel was a fairly modern looking building with a sort of honeycomb of brown panels going up the sides of it. These we later discovered...
Cherry

April in Paris 1990 - part 3 -Sunday

We had guessed correctly about the noise from the nightclub which kept us awake quite a lot of the night by coming and goings and loud popular music...

April in Paris 1990 - part 4 -Sunday

The registrationprocedure was quite simple We just had to pick up our name tags atthe door - and then go upstairs to the desk and pick up the...

Happy Anniversary

I was married to Philip 52 years ago today, but those people in the picture aren't us, but they are Mr and Mrs. J Day, as we were.(Philip's first...

April in Paris 1990 - part 5

At breakfast on Monday, I took note of who ate what. It seemed as only Americans or English had cereal for breakfast. Some of the French people put...
Cherry

Last Tango in Paris and the Green Eyed Monster

Bill and Bett, James and Jill and Philip and I were nearly the first on the dinner cruise boat, the highlight of our week, and it transpired that we...

Letter to Kathleen after my Dad died - 1976

(I have been going through my letters to my sister, which her daughter brought to me a few weeks ago. Most of them are very ordinary and boring, but...
Cherry

Relatively Speaking

One of my hobbies these days is to find out all I can about my children's English ancestors. When I started doing this about 15 years ago, there was...

Uncle Frank Suchla - a bad man probably

Having given one of my husband's ancestors a bad name, I should do the same for mine, I knew a lot about Frank Suchla before this last bit of...

Bridge Holiday in Luxor - January 1996 - Difficulties with Roommate

I booked the bridge holiday to Luxor, knowing that I would have to take pot-luck on who I shared a room with, but thinking it was bound to be okay...

Trip to Egypt - 2 - Adventures while shopping

The entire group met up for the evening meal, which was excellent. Afterwards we went to our rooms for an early night. It turned out that Win had...

TRIP TO EGYPT 4 - VALLEY OF THE TOMBS

I slept very badly that night. Win came in very late, and Fran came knocking on our door even later to tell her about the man who she had been left...
Cherry

The camel ride - Egypt Trip 5

When we first booked to ride on a camel, there as quite a bit of excitement and interest about it. But now, Pat had changed her mind, and the rest of...

Bits and Pieces - Egypt trip

Zaib is a Moslem, and therefore she should have been following the Ramadan fast, which means nothing to eat, drink or smoke from dawn to dusk. But...

The Men in my Life - part 1

1950 - Jackie Braun - aged 6 I remember that he was good looking and that I very much wanted him to like me. He asked me why my hands hung down from...

The Sophomore Boys

Men in my Life 1960- 1965 - aged 16 - 21 I was an Oblate of St. Benedict, a girls’ group which was a sort of being a lay religious (a real perk in...
Cherry

Sorority Drop Out

When I transferred from St. Teresa's all girls’ college to North Dakota State University, one most important ingredient in my life was lacking - a...

Al and the Levecar

"What a stupid thing to do. You're just asking to be hurt," said Joyce with a mixture of pity and exasperation. Joyce was my co-worker at the records...
Cherry

Al and the Wonderful Summer

Al's blue and white Buick drove up to my house about 15 to 7 but I was waiting. "I hope you don't mind if we give a friend a lift to her job first,”...
Cherry

Al and the Hernia

A week went by and I had no letter from Al. I was very disappointed and then thought I'd write to him anyway. But before my letter had a chance to...
Cherry

Al in Minneapolis

My work at Fargo Clinic finished at 9 p.m. but instead of going back to the dorm I went right to the train depot and sat alone, reading, until the...
Cherry

The Last Man in my Life

This November marks the 10th anniversary of my husband's death. But rather than writing about those sad days, I am remembering the first thrilling...
Cherry

The Last Man in my Life 2

The following Saturday was a Bank Holiday November 11th, Veterans' Day, and therefore a day when no mail was delivered. I was amazed to see a letter...
Cherry

The Last Man in my Life 3

I won't go into the details of our lives from then on - only to say I saw Phlip every day except for the two weeks when he went to England for...

The Honeymoon

This is a synopsis of our honeymoon in England. We spent three weeks there, and arrived back just in time for my sister's wedding on August 23. Hi...

The Janus Look 1

Thursday Jan 27 12.02 a.m. Up to the toilet, as usual. Back in bed now, but how strange. I can’t shut my right eye. I will hold it closed, and behind...

Janus Look 2

Thursday 12.05 p.m. I had to knock on the door to be let in, as I hadn’t brought a key with me in the ambulance either. My son answered the door, and...