Photo by Y. Magier This story emerged in my father’s memory as we had our morning telephone chat. When Pop came to the part where Harrold had his feet up on the desk, he said, with a glint of mischief in his voice: “He did not look to be gainfully employed.” This is so typical…
My brother is one of the most competent men I know. He can repair a tractor, bake a pie, and help me with my taxes—all in the same day! That’s an Eagle Scout for you. This week he cooked dinner at the homeplace for not only Pop, himself, and myself, but as a special treat,…
My Uncle Willard (Davenport) Thompson mostly wrote prose in his life, but we recovered this poem from his papers this winter during my father’s documentation project. Uncle Willard was a brilliant man caught short in the Great Depression who used his creativity to start a literary magazine, Ride the Rails as a hoboe, and, in…
Pop gets up a little later now at 92. He’s earned it, as I see it. “I feel like Aunt Mim. She told me, ‘Erwin, it takes me an hour to get out of bed.’ My this and my that aches. I’m getting to be an old man, and I don’t like it.” “True. It’s…
For me, family dates are engraved on my heart. March 13th will ever be Julia’s day. Will ever be my sister’s birthday. She lives within us, and curiously, seems to age right along with us. On this birthday, and every birthday, she lives beyond her death day. In 2005 on the first birthday after Julia’s…
love is a place by e e cummings love is a place & through this place of love move (with brightness of peace) all places yes is a world & in this world of yes live (skilfully curled) all worlds Child and Hawk Dream by Judy Tart Please read my post on Love of Place:…
A foot of snow atop our bluff: Evergreen Heights, Jersey Township, SW Illinois. Mother, that which you filled and then emptied, we fill again as best we can. Your chair hold us at the wheelhouse hub, yet a glance windowward unfolds and holds worlds beyond. This morning’s world insulated in a snowy rug. Cardinal families…
“Going the second mile” was a catch-phrase in our family, and comes from the Bible, Matthew 5:4 41 “Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two.” [A Roman official could require any subject of the Roman empire to bear a burden, or carry a load for one mile.] “Going the second mile”…
Janet Grace Riehl and Erwin A. Thompson, father-daughter writing team TREASURE CHEST by Janet Grace Riehl from “Sightlines: A Poet’s Diary” He labors in the grove of service. Remembers flat tires, repaired. Loans proffered for crises. Then his somber face glows with the light of a thousand-watt angel. Memories of good turns returned is a…
To read my father’s poem “Night Patrol” click here to access the Riehlife March 18th 2007 entry. To see Erwin A. Thompson tellling this story of bravery in action…matter of factly and with gentle humor…go to www.thetelegraph.com. Tip: To avoid problems in streaming this video, you may wish to press the pause button on the…