Introduction and context.

I am not a writer but I like to write. I am very comfortable expressing myself through the written word. It has always been a way for me to organize my thoughts and bring them to life.

All of my writing is rooted in personal experience – places, people, moments in time that I have encountered. I don’t think I could write fiction – making up entire narratives out of thin air. I need the emotion of having lived it.

I grew up with a mother who was a high school English teacher and a devotee of the written and spoken word. More on that to come. At boarding school, my writing skills were the only thing for which I achieved any level of academic success. I was chosen by my peers to deliver the class remarks at our graduation. I recently found a copy of that speech and have yet to muster the courage to read it in full. Perhaps therein lies a future entry.

For lack of any real professional aspirations – the path of least resistance in choosing a major in college was English. Again – it was the writing that got my attention. My reading speed and comprehension are both miserable.

For thirty-plus years, the only writing associated with my day job has been emails. In the highly regulated financial industry due to the necessary layers of compliance oversight – more times than not the only notoriety my writing has gotten me has been negative.

And so, my outlet has been real life. Toasts for friends at their wedding or birthday. Tributes to giants in my life. And of course, obituaries and post mortem tributes to those close to me. Many times I have been asked for copies of my words. Some have been framed as a remembrance of the occasion. Others I’ve been asked to read aloud. One piece that I will share soon, I tried to get published but other than a very nice form letter from the editor, accepting my piece with no promise to print it – that went nowhere.

This is my attempt to change that – at least to give myself a new outlet through which to share the words I spill onto the page. Perhaps it is motivation to write more. Perhaps it is a place for me to aggregate the pieces that mean the most to me. Or perhaps it will cast my voice to a wider audience that will find something of value within the words I string together. We shall see.

Thank you for reading along.