Dispatch From a Clinician
“I just need to talk to somebody,” he said, slumping into the seat across from me. He was tall and thin and wore a tattered winter jacket though it was unseasonably warm and humid outside. His long...
View ArticleHow I Learned To Be A Racist
I grew up in a white factory town until I was 10-years-old. My father had a small grocery store in Newark, New Jersey and his customers were all black people. My parents had a term that they referred...
View ArticleCan’t go home-but why would I?
But why would I want to return to what was never a home in the first place? Today I have a home. I live with a family, my wife Mary Esther and her mother, and they love and nurture me in ways I can...
View ArticleRunning On Empty In Vermont: Part One
I kept drinking the wine so the withdrawal from the Klonopin wouldn’t hit me. I didn’t want to have a seizure out here in the boondocks. My wife, Debbie, has already gone into detox at a place called...
View ArticleRunning on Empty Part 2: Doctor Shopping and Crowbar Dodging
The pharmacist had grey hair and his glasses rested down on a bump in the middle of his nose. The woman working the counter came over and I handed her the scripts. She asked me for my address and...
View ArticleRelapse Ruminations and a Trip in the Way-back Machine
While taking a short ride in my car yesterday I listened to an acapella group called Jersey Dream put out by Clifton Records. The lead singer is a friend of mine named Ron Trautz, and as I was...
View ArticleSheltering in Place
These are weird times. The doctors postponed Mary Esther’s spine surgery until June 10 because of the situation. Her lungs are challenged normally, so it’s important that she not get exposed to the...
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With Spare Change News closed, a local fund awards one SCN vendor-writer a...
Governor Baker’s March 23 emergency order for all non-essential businesses to close impacted Spare Change News and its vendors like myself significantly. Spare Change News closed its doors for 11...
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“They Were Locked In, We Were Locked Out”: A Story of Lockdown and...
It was 22 March 2020. There were about 12 of us living in the shelter. Saturday morning was our last day there. We had no place to go. It would be my first day outside with nothing open, no...
View ArticleLiving the Pandemic Year in Harvard Square
Life being homeless on the streets of Harvard Square was tough, but I noticed last year a glimmer of hope. As cruel winter came upon us, the food supplies were still coming and also water. I remember...
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