His parents had gone out for the evening, leaving him happily playing with his toy cars and trucks, crashing them into each other as young boys are prone to doing.  His grandparents were babysitting when the call came . . . the call that told of an accident involving an out of control 18-wheeler.  It struck his parents’ car head-on, killing both of them instantly.  When his grandparents came to tell him, he was still happily crashing his cars and trucks into each other.  And for years afterwards, he believed he was responsible for the deaths of his parents. So went the sto ..read more

Kathryne Hall Shackelford, my paternal grandmother, died quite young (at least in my mind) and very unexpectedly on August 20, 1961.  At the end of that month, I would turn five.  And at the end of that year, Christmas would arrive with all its festivities . . . but without one very important person. She was Mom to us, and my grandfather was Pop.  He loved her deeply and I’m sure his grief was just as deep as that love.  And even though his daily mission was to help others navigate loss, that didn’t mean he could remain unaffected when it became a part of his own life.&nbs ..read more

The office had closed for the evening, but the building was still occupied (compliments of an ongoing visitation) when I slipped into the lounge through the secret passageway (aka the door from the service hall) to make myself a cup of tea.  My entrance caught the attention of the most adorable little human who immediately came running over.  Dressed in a plaid shirt that I later realized matched his slightly older brother’s, he was bouncing from pillar to post with a pacifier in his mouth and a fixation on the refrigerator.  I told him I was pretty sure it was empty, but he wa ..read more

My first encounter with Don Thomas was at a basketball game in what passed for the gym of North Elementary.  The building housed grades one through eight back then, and only the upper-level students were allowed to attend things like basketball games, mainly because there wasn’t enough room for everyone and still have the floor clear for the game.  Don was two or three years older than I was and on this particular day was seated behind me in the terribly uncomfortable wooden folding chairs that were bolted in rows to the floor.  And he decided it would be really funny if he sta ..read more