an old writer and his words

  • BONE CHINA

    Mother loved her bone china.She went out of the way to insurethat her first husband bought a completeset for her, service for twelvenever mind she never had a tablethat could seat more than eightand then only then if you crowdedmismatched chairs together.She gave it to me after her secondmarriage finally dissolved, not onlybecause I was…

    Lou Faber

  • GAZING

    She says that for a small fee shecan guide me through my prior lives,introduce me to former loves, let mewatch the battles in which I fought,shield me from scenes of battlein which I died or was wounded.She says I will see many I now knowin my present, recognize how wewere once connected so our presentconnections…

    Lou Faber

  • FAREWELL

    Is there any good way to remotelyannounce an unexpected death?When our mother died, her son (mystatus as a son then in flux althoughI wouldn’t discover that until later)opted for an early morning phone call,cursory, the time, the cause, its suddenness,and then assigned me to write and pay for the obituary,which he finally approved eight drafts…

    Lou Faber

  • DEALING WITH IT

    How strange it was today to takethe younger of our two cars, this onesoon to be ten, but low milageby anyone’s standards,under 2,000 miles a year,to the dealer after needinga jump start on a battery lessthan a year old, and knowing froma lifetime of such visits the havocthey wreak on your wallet, and thenwaiting more…

    Lou Faber

  • FUNERIAL

    There are two types of gravesidefunerals for most people,three in my case, for twiceI have conducted the service wheremy attention was focusedon the prayers I would read.The two other types differ onlyin whether the departedis a close relativeor beloved friend,or someone more distantwhere you attend out of duty.For the beloved your attentionis on the casket…

    Lou Faber

  • THE EASE OF FORGETTING

    I have little memory of the manwho was my first adoptive fatherand none of his funeral, two-year-olds,my mother said, should notknow of death at that age.Nor did I attend my grandmother’s,she the mother of my second adoptive fatherbecause 12-year-old shouldn’thave the memory of funerals,according to my mother.I did attend her mother’s funeral,had to because I…

    Lou Faber

  • THE DOTTED LINE

    Now that I have discoveredmy Catholic and Protestant ancestorsI know it is time to considerwhat hell must be like. I know it is not fire and brimstone,that went the way of old lorewhen the Impressionists came along. So I imagine Hell must bevery much like getting caughtlooking at the new carsin the showroom while you…

    Lou Faber

  • SIX FEET UNDER

    I remember the afternoonwas cold and damp, with a persistentdrizzle that escapedthe clustered umbrellas,the sky a blanket slowly sheddingthe water that soaked itas it sat out on the clothesline. I suspect you would haveliked it this way, everyone in attendance,everyone shuffling their feet,wanting to look skyward,knowing they would see onlya dome of black umbrella domes.…

    Lou Faber

  • ON EASY STREET

    Driving to the car dealer yesterdayfor what I should have knownwould be expensive service, notbecause I hadn’t had my carserviced in over a year, simplybecause any trip to the dealerfor service is expensive, Q.E.D.,I drove by Easy Street. I thought of stopping, perhapslooking for a small houseto keep for the occasional getaway,I mean who doesn’t…

    Lou Faber

  • EASY, I SAID

    I had great plansfor the day, a simple project,easy install said the instructionsand an hour in, nothing working. Of course it was a weekendso I called for help andthe professional workedanother two hours beforeannouncing nothing doing. We concluded the productwas dead on arrival, as werethe plans I had madefor the bulk of thd day, but…

    Lou Faber