Category: Melancholy Thoughts
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Dan & Daughter At Rest
My father is hidden behind everything I am. –Adrienne Egan “Danny Boy” (From a high school essay) I have long dreaded what was about to take place. As I approached the shore of Long Pond, the memories began to weigh heavy on my heart. How often had I stood in the sand since the early…
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The Troll Who Cried
I began my walk to the Barnum Brook Bridge carrying an emotional load that nearly broke my already painful back. It was a warm and very muggy afternoon. There were grey clouds in the hazy sky. There were grey clouds in my mind, my soul and my heart. I was not dreading the Bridge like…
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Paying It Forward: More Late Night Thoughts on Greg
“And when I come to the dim trail-end, I who have been Life’s rover, This is all I would ask, my friend, Over and over and over: // Stars that gleam on a moss-grey stone Graven by those who love me– There would I lie alone, alone, With a single pine above me; Pine that…
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A Spadeful of Earth
Grief is the price we pay for love. –Queen Elizabeth II In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years. –Abraham Lincoln When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent…
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Into The Woods
“Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darkness of other people.” –Carl Jung In the rearview mirror of the last three weeks of my life, I see I’ve left behind many things and added many memories. I’ve left behind the heat and sand of Florida, the peaches and boiled peanuts…
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Ghosts? Who Am I To Judge?
To me, Halloween evokes memories of walking down Front Street in Owego, NY, kicking the piles of unraked leaves while dressed up in a throw-it-all-together costume. Clutching paper bags, my friends and I would go door to door seeking treats. There was a chill in the air, mixed with the rotting leaves that produced a…
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A Gathering: A Farewell
The time for tears has come and gone. You passed from our lives a year ago. It’s sad Nance, that you won’t see your son on a hilltop be married to an amazing woman, Kristin. They moved back to Binghamton, the virus, and other events delayed a final gathering in your name until this day,…
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Too Old, Too Soon: Two Friends
“I want to go for a ride,” said the car that had a teal fender. “You can’t. You’re a mess. Your engine hasn’t run since the early sixties. A car also needs four wheels and you need three. Your ride isn’t going my friend. This is going to be where you will stay until someone…
patrickjegan 