I. Someone from Somerset, or a group of them, beat him for embezzling their money. That’s what my older brother, Charley, told me. But Mother, back then, said he was robbed in an alley and came away with a broken arm… Read More ›
A Fictionalized Biography
The Best Year Ever
It was the best year ever. This was before my colossal bet with my older brother Charley. Before everything started unraveling. Still, it wasn’t as if our bet had anything to do with what occurred subsequently. Rather, as a result… Read More ›
Tuna for Christmas
Suzie couldn’t believe all the plans we had in store for her. She cocked her ears back when we told her everything, but she didn’t move when we reached out to touch her, and she even let Jerry, Allison, and… Read More ›
Old Ironsides, A Poem of the Modern Family
Somehow I knew they were fighting over which one would hold sway – no, not Mother and Daddy, but rather, Mrs. Daniels or Mrs. Gosling, my two third grade teachers. They must have decided, perhaps unconsciously, that I was the… Read More ›
Goner
The small plane was above us, loud and sputtering. We kids, Holly, Charley, Allison and I, heard it immediately upon getting off the school bus. We raced across the highway and ran down our lane to the house. Something was… Read More ›
Holly’s Horse Ginger
The farmer backed the horse out of the trailer. I stood beside Mother and Allison as it loomed larger and larger before us, a big reddish-brown rump of a horse. I wondered what we were going to do with it…. Read More ›
Mean Old Willie
No, I wasn’t the bumbler in the family. Even though Mother said I was – I wasn’t. We all knew, actually, who was the bumbler in our family. On our farm, deep in the heart of the Allegheny Mountains, Daddy… Read More ›
The Box
It’s a rainy day and we are dressing and undressing Barbies in Allison’s room. I am seven or eight and am sitting at the foot of Allison’s bed. Allison is nine or ten and is happy I am with her…. Read More ›
Branded
My brother was mean. If I was willing to play baseball or football, Charley could be a wonderful older brother. The two of us would ride our bikes for miles to other farms in the area for pick-up games, and,… Read More ›
Recovery
He wasn’t sure why he felt his best days were behind him. He had driven to Gettysburg for the day to visit the town and see his two sisters and decided at the spur of the moment, as the late afternoon… Read More ›
The History of Running, Part II
Lived with cross-country runners my first two years of college. Not sure I was the best person to land in their midst. Haven’t seen them since. After high school, could have joined the Army and fought my way through Viet Nam… Read More ›
The History of Running
Never ran until after grad school. Ran in my mid-thirties to lose weight. Waited so long saved my knees. Many others now have knee problems due to the pounding they took back in high school and college. Tenth grade in… Read More ›
jonathan giles 