My Favorite Photograph

When I was a child, my parents divorced. As a teenager I visited my father at his place of work one time and saw a photograph of my brother and I on his desk. It was an old photograph, taken when we first started school. 

When I asked my father about it he said "It's my favorite photograph."

Earlier this week I was sitting at my own work desk when an employee asked about a photograph of my own daughters. The phrase rolled off my tongue.

"It's my favorite photograph."

And in a moment of revelation, I learned yet another thing about my own parents divorce. My father's favorite photograph was just that, because,  that is all that he had.

The young girl in my photograph will be 21 in about three weeks. It's been four years since we spoke on the phone, and nine years since I have seen her. I have no idea who she is now.

With reverence to Ringo Starr, now, all I've got is a photograph.

Some Days Are Harder Than Others

Some days are harder than others.

The writers copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Angels and Miracles arrived today.

I cannot even look at the cover without crying.

My first copies usually go out to community organizations, libraries, and my Alma Mater Villanova College.

Not this time. They'll be going out to those who carried me through the story.

Anthony, Dave Parker, Judith, and one other.

One copy will be held back for his children,  to read of their father impact.

One copy will be held back for my children, to read of the impact of their father.

Vale Mark Goodwin.

My Friend, My Partner.

In Australia, the last Thursday in September is National Police Remembrance Day.

My personal list is...heart breaking.

Tony Greaves.
Lenny Hoooper.
Dave Shean.
Perry Irwin,

and my friend, my partner, Mark Goodwin.








His story comes out in the Chicken Soup for the Soul Series, Angels and Miracles, on 2 November 2016.

Delta Airlines Leaves a Disabled Soldier Behind on 9/11

On September 11 2016, Delta Airlines completely forgot about a 75 year old disabled retired serviceman at Los Angeles International Airport. After being booked on a commuter flight from San Diego to Los Angeles, with connecting flight to Australia, +Delta Airlines dropped the ball when the original flight was late to leave the terminal.

Forgot to document his emergency contacts.
Forgot to document he needed a wheelchair.
Forgot to call his local family, when requested.
Forgot to advise on rebooking his connecting international flight.
And while they did give him a bed for the night...
Forgot to feed him.

Shame on you +Delta  Take a good look at the disabled soldier you left behind on 9/11.

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Angels and Miracles

A story twenty five years waiting to be written, represents the second appearance this year and the fifth overall.

For Alyse and Meghan, who never knew their Father.

Halfway

Halfway to the finish line.

The first 50 has been great.

The next 50 look to be awesome.

In Memorium, an Honorable Gentleman.

This week I have been in Orlando, Florida, enjoying a vacation. The day after I arrived, news reached me from Australia of the passing of a honorable gentleman. The man left behind a wife and two children. He had just celebrated his 50th birthday three months ago.

At the same time, news reached me about a story that has been 25 years in the making. In 1991, a friend passed away leaving behind a wife and two children. He was barely 25 of years. His passing profoundly affected me, not only because he was my friend, but because we graduated in the same Police Academy class, and worked side by side in Law Enforcement. For 25 years I carried a guilt over his passing, not for the event that took his life, but for the children he left behind.

His children were just two years and eight weeks of age.

I always wondered if there was more I could have done for his children, but I didn't. I isolated myself from his family, and as it turned out, from my own family. I eventually wrote about him, and that story will appear in November this year.

The honorable gentleman who passed this week left behind two children, who had just completed school and were making their way in the world.

It will not be 25 years before I write about how great, their Dad was, and how lucky I was to know him.