Growing Bolder Community

How does one say good bye to an old friend and co-worker who just passed away? What does one say when distance and circumstances meant no contact in several years? A very unique and special man, Al, passed away today. I say unique and special because he was a Quality Assurance specialist who, in the true tradition, saw everything in black and white, right or wrong. To those of us who tried to...

The following was the very first of my musings, published in May 2007, and subsequently became the very first entry in my book, Late Night Musings. (Note: about a dozen classmates from high school and their spouses gather once a year at various locations simply to enjoy again the pleasure of each others' company) I was thinking about our annual gatherings. If someone asked me to compare...

I'm not an avid user of Facebook but I do have both a personal account and a "john latenightmusings" account there. Because my use is occasional I'm not an expert when it comes to the various features the site has, and I don't have much interest in most of them. However, one of the features I enjoy is the alerts for friends' birthdays. Assuming the friend has entered their birth date, Facebook...

While all parts of the country have terms of affection, it seems the south uses them extensively. What others reserve for those they know and have strong affections for, the south liberally spreads around to loved ones, casual acquaintances and even strangers. Maybe that is why the south prides itself on being friendly. It is often said that the south is friendlier than other...

It was time for another of my bagel fixes. When I want a bagel I have a choice of a few places to get one. Today it was Dunkin' Donut. Although it was around lunch time, the place wasn't too busy. In fact the only customers were two women in line ahead of me placing their orders. It was obvious they both were in the Christmas spirit. As I watched one put her arm around the other in...

Bear with me; this really is about classmates and not growing older. My journey into blogging began a few years ago and not by design. There is a group of my classmates (Class of 1954) who gather once a year to share pleasant moments with together. After one of those gatherings, I wrote an email to my classmates to let them know how special they are to me. That singular email soon...

The other day I was driving to the mall. In order to get there I had to drive through a less desirable section of town (to use a euphemism). As I was waiting at a red light, two of the local residents crossed the street in front of me. Both were unkempt, unshaven and wore torn clothes that looked like they had not been in a washer for some time. You could tell by their walk that they...

There are two women, friends of ours who are battling breast cancer. I say battling because they are, to use that age-worn label, “tough old broads”. The weapons of choice in that battle are chemo therapy and radiation. Anyone who has gone through it or has seen a loved one go through them knows what they are faced with. Loss of hair and profound nausea are but two of the side...