Stories from the Steps

prayer

  • Vol.1 Chronicle 41

    (4:45AM DAD’S & A POOL & THE GOSPEL OF MARK, NOT SO) SHALLOW THOUGHTS FROM THE DEEP END WITH MISS JULIE’S POOL BOY: Miss Julie unlocked the pool gates at 4:45 this morning, not to fix the pool’s condition but… Continue reading

    Vol.1 Chronicle 41

  • Vol.1 Chronicle 39

    FOUR GENERATIONS: On one of the final 4 Sundays of September 1968, my parents, after escorting me & my sister up the only staircase (pictured) in our church at the time to 9:45 Sunday School & then down it to… Continue reading

    Vol.1 Chronicle 39

  • Vol.1, Chronicle 37: Keys, 8/27/1984

    KEYS, A 40 YEAR STORY OF MISS JULIE AND HER POOL BOY: Miss Julie gave me these keys for Christmas 2023. They used to work the locks of Maclellan Gymnasium on the UT-Chattanooga campus. Today, technology has rendered them useless… Continue reading

    Vol.1, Chronicle 37: Keys, 8/27/1984

  • Volume 1, Chronicle 36, Lottie’s Song

    Today, August 10th, 2024, marks 21 years since my grandmother passed away. What follows was written a year ago to her namesake great-great-granddaughter. I thought about brushing it up with a rewrite as I scrolled the socials on a sleep… Continue reading

    Volume 1, Chronicle 36, Lottie’s Song

  • Vol.1,  Chronicle 31: Mirages

    MIRAGES OF GRIEF, THE PRODIGAL, VOLUME 1, CHRONICLE 31, STORIES FROM THE STEPS: Maya Angelou wrote, “I answer the heroic question ‘Death where is thy sting?’, with it is here in my heart & mind & memories.” I seem to… Continue reading

    Vol.1,  Chronicle 31: Mirages

  • Vol.1, Chronicle 28

    VOLUME 1, CHRONICLE 28, BOTH INDEPENDENCE DAYS & PLYMOUTH ROCK: INTRO: The 6 or 7 minute read that follows in 3 chapters, is my pastor’s fault. This Sunday past, he basically told our congregation, those that weren’t thinking of beating… Continue reading

    Vol.1, Chronicle 28

  • Father’s Day

    VOLUME 1, CHRONICLE 26, FATHER’S DAY 2024, ABSENT YET PRESENT: Sometimes I write, to paraphrase Maya Angelou, because it’s agony to bear an untold story in the soul or like today, I’m an empty penitent seeking a filling communion, seeking… Continue reading

    Father’s Day

  • Edna & a cake pan

    VOLUME 1, CHRONICLE 20, EDNA & A CAKE PAN: This is your paternal great-great-grandmother. Twenty three years ago today, May 17, 2001, we lost her. Also pictured, her cake pan. The pan is mine now & I treasure it like… Continue reading

    Edna & a cake pan

  • Vol.1, Chronicle 17: 2 years in Sundown

    VOLUME 1, CHRONICLE 17: 2 YEARS IN SUNDOWN, NOW & THEN. As I say good morning to another night, I’m struggling with do I need to say something or do I have something to say? John Steinbeck said, “I write… Continue reading

    Vol.1, Chronicle 17: 2 years in Sundown

  • Vol.1, Chronicle 15: Dash

    VOLUME 1, CHRONICLE 15, DASH: This weekend I received a text from one of the great cheerleaders* in my grand crusade of fingers poised over the typewriter keys to be the next great Southern writer like Faulkner, Capote, or O’Connor.… Continue reading

    Vol.1, Chronicle 15: Dash