The P Word
They had just opened the four-lane divided highway between my hometown and the county seat, some 15 miles away. They had been working on it all my life, and now it was wide open, and I had just gotten my…
Hugh's Blog
Hopeful in spite of the facts
Hugh's Blog
Hopeful in spite of the facts
Category Best of
Test test
The Cat with Magic Ears
It was the middle of July in 2016. I had just walked in the door from work. Renee was 11 months out from her heart transplant, and I was running a day shelter I had founded. It had been a…
The Church
The church building was small – no more than 1000 square feet all told. My granddaddy’s name is on the cornerstone, along with the date – 1941 – when they built the brick building after the wooden structure that had…
The Plan
Some years back, I was hanging out in the smoking rea of the day shelter I ran at the time. It was one of my favorite community-building activities – it’s hard to have any agenda in a smoking area, especially…
Grief Groceries
Hi Hugh, A friend died, and I want to be helpful to his wife, but I’m not sure what to do. I told her that if she needed anything to let me know. Of course, she thanked me, but it’s…
The Ice Cream
I have written before in these pages about my Aunt Louise. My great aunt, really – Dad’s mom’s sister – she died when I was 12, but until then was one of my biggest influences. She lived on 40 acres,…
I Know.
Hi there. Can we talk? I just wanted to check in. For some of you reading this right now, I know the stories about your decision to terminate your pregnancy. I know, because I was the person you called when…
Advice You Will Ignore
Since posting my story of burnout, I have had no less than 5 conversations with people in similar places. All people in the so-called helping professions, all doing good work, all exhausted. I used to teach classes on self-care, but…
The Church of the Diner
I wrote most of this in the Before Times. I have not hung out by myself in a diner in almost two years, merely one of a long list of things this pandemic has stolen from me. I miss it…
Why I Stay in the South
I am a child of the Southland. I love it here, and I grew up here, in a childhood filled with honeysuckle, sweet tea, fishing, lightning bugs and church potlucks. The earliest memories I have involve table fellowship with other folks,…