With a unique narrative style that pairs bright memories with their shadowed counterparts, this work contemplates how joy, loss, and self-discovery shape the soul. From the excitement of being a "rebel troop" with his brothers to the profound imprint of a lost childhood friend, these patterns carry forward into adulthood. In the end, the memories themselves become gifts, revealing deeper truths about the nature of remembering, the impermanence of life, and the quiet resilience of the human spirit.
The author first grew up in northern Florida where the beauty of fish amazed him, then lived in northern Alabama close to woods and within hearing the Saturn V. shake the ground. Then he lived in Baltimore, Maryland where he experienced the richness and risk of urban life. With degrees in Philosophy and Psychology, he taught in college. He has also worked with the homeless, and advocated for rights of those in psychiatric hospitals. Last, he helped found and taught in a progressive charter school that opened in the inner city. In gratefulness for the many blessings of his life, he offers these recollections which touches upon the beauty and mystery of our lives.