The small brick, wartime house, on the quiet suburban street with an addition built onto the back always brought back fond memories for me.

Memories of water fights fought under the old maple tree that still stood proudly in the front yard. Of the numerous afternoons spent playing road hockey in the street with the neighbor's kids, or quietly learning how to pick rhubarb, while my Nan gave me sound advice.

Whenever I found myself walking up her front steps, the memories would always flood my mind and bringing a smile to my face.

My Nan was no longer able to garden or even get out of bed. In fact, she could barely string together three sentences without coughing up phlegm.

"Hi, Nan, it's Mike!" I would yell, upon entering the house. Since Nan couldn't get out of bed to see who was there, I only thought it polite.

From around the corner would come her reply, beckoning me into the bedroom where she lay. Often she would have a pile of yarn in her lap, a crossword puzzle, or a dog-eared book and she always had a smile for me.

However, that smile couldn't cover up the fact that her body was crumbling around her. Tired, watery eyes and a body, which looked like it was made of sharp angles of bone with no flesh, were always the first things I noticed...Continue reading here.

 

Scratch Resistant

by Tammy Ruggles

"Slow down, Joey! You're going to get hurt!"

He didn't hear me, of course. What four-year-old does when he has a towel fastened around his neck pretending to be Batman?

I was busy cooking lunch in our on-campus family housing unit. Baked chicken, roasted potatoes, and sweet corn, one of the family's favorites, especially Joey's.

The day was like any other Saturday. I finally had time off to rest and spend time with my little boy. After lunch we usually went to feed the ducks at the lake, or a bike ride, or a walk down to the campus art museum and science display. He was fascinated with the paintings, statues, rocks, and bugs.

"I'm Batman, Mommy!" he cried happily as he and his friend Chris ran past me and flew outside to play.

"I know you are!" I yelled back as I stirred the corn. "Just slow down!"

We had just seen Batman the weekend before. This was Joey's very first feature-length movie in a theater. Ever since then, it was a Batman world for him. He liked the comics, the toys, the trading cards, anything Batman.

"If you save all of this stuff," I told him, "you could make a lot of money off of it one day."

"Really?" he asked as he looked up at me with his blue-gray eyes and innocent face. "Will I be rich?"

"I don't know about rich, but collectors pay a pretty penny for stuff like this."

I began to think about how I myself had been a Batman fan when I was little. It was the first thing I watched when I got home from school. I remember playing just like that when I was his age, except that my cape was a sheet of yellow tarp-like plastic that looked more like Robin's cape than Batman's.

The chicken, corn, and potatoes were done, so I turned the stove off and walked toward the door to call for Joey to come and eat, but they were already on their way. Two colorful streaks headed for the front door before I could even open my mouth.

Chris was in the lead. He pushed open my front door and let it swing back, and Joey, right behind him, put his arms out to catch it. But instead of catching it, his momentum propelled him through the glass....continue reading here.

The Marathon Man

Ray Fauteux

That was until that one special day in the Summer of 1976. I was doing my usual beer-drinking, chain smoking, channel surfing routine and happened to land on the closing ceremonies of the Montreal Olympic Games. In those days, the marathon was the marquee event and was the final event that was scheduled to finish in Olympic Stadium, just prior to the closing ceremonies. I just happened to be on time to see the first runner enter the stadium that was packed with over 60,000 spectators. He was all alone as he made the final lap of the stadium toward the finish line.

It struck me how amazing it must have felt to finish such a long event and have the finish line in sight. To this day I can't say for sure what happened, but it really moved me and managed to ignite a spark somewhere deep inside. I thought how much I would love to experience the same thing this runner was. In the space of ten minutes I went from "I wish I could," to "I think I can," to "I'm going to do it!"

The very next day, I started my running career. It started very slowly, but at least it was a start. Too embarrassed to run outside, I began my running inside a gymnasium. The first day all I could manage was two laps before I started coughing and getting dizzy. It was at that moment that I knew the cigarettes would have to go. Within a week I quit a 12 year habit. In the 30 years since I have never smoked another cigarette.

I ran a little bit every single day. Within a month I was doing 5 miles inside the gym. My breathing began to get easier and easier with each passing day. I coughed up a lot of weird stuff for a while, but I think the running cleared my lungs of all the tar and nicotine very quickly...Click here to read more