Contents: October 2009

CREEK ROAD GANG

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Contents: October 2009

Thoughts from the Editor ~ Kate Lydon

Stories

Seeing "Star Trek" with Dad ~ Cindy Schwartz-DeVol

Although my dad and I would often have a father-daughter outing to see these movies by ourselves, the four of us were sharing the movie today for a particularly unsettling reason.

The Misfits of Shallotte ~ Laura Penrose

Sitting on the dark, hard earth under the shade of some trees that formed a stopping point on the path from my grandmother’s beautiful, big white house to my mother’s mobile home and then farther down to my uncle’s house, I sat learning to tie my shoes. I was four years old, and it was the day I was moving away . . . .

Let's Go Dutch ~ Kitty Kono

Had my parents been alive, they would have cringed. A dating service was just not an appropriate way for their daughter to meet someone – especially her husband. I kind of agreed, but time was getting a little short.

Grandmothers ~ Virginia Strong Newlin

I never knew my grandfathers, one committed suicide before my father was born, the other absconded to a yacht in California . . . . My grandmothers, on the other hand were hard not to know.

The Four Questions ~ Leonard Gottesman

Grandpa sits at the head of the table wearing his skullcap and chanting the prayer book. “Lenny," he says, looking up with a smile, “you are the first grandchild in our family . . . . "

Facebook Reunion ~ Terry Heyman

When I graduated from high school twenty-five years ago, I left for college and never returned to my hometown. I preferred the anonymity of my adult life in a new state where there was no chance I could run into a man reminding me that he and his ninth grade buddies used to call me “giraffe" . . . .

Wednesdays at the Clinic ~ Mary Porth

I eased my mini-van in close to the curb on the narrow street, turned it off and stepped out carefully, trying to avoid the scattered glass fragments that littered the sidewalk and glinted in the late winter sun. The crumbling old building I parked next to was a forgotten remnant of one of the city’s now defunct industries.

Melon, Coffee and Coke ~ Kate Lydon

A Papa and Eva Story: "What are you going to do with it?" Papa asked. "I don't care about what you do with it! I'm going to eat it!"

Autobiography of Nathaniel Watson Ladd, Part 1

Excerpt from the autobiography of a New Hampshire native born in 1848: When I was seven years old, my Father called me to him and said, "My boy, your Mother and I have taken care of you for seven years. I want you to understand from this time on, you have to earn your own living."

Poems

Zea Ginsburg Piver: 3 Poems
What Remains
Last Contact
Watch

Evelyn Carli Lydon: 5 Poems
The Carver
Sunday Service
Marblehead Morning
Song of the Whistler
Snow Screen

Joe Quinton: 4 Poems
Patrimony
"Solipsism"
Turning
Break Up

Janice Ewing: 3 Poems
September 23, 1919
My Brother Retires
Invitation

Kristin Flick Strid: 3 Poems
Talking to My Mother about the Trees
Monogamy
If You Leave