Month: July 2017

Ancient Tech

While on a walkabout the kids found an olde antique shop in San Dimas. There they came about an ancient device with some odd dial for sale. They pawed at it with wonder for a minute before I stepped in. I told them a land-before-time tale of phones without screens. 
They stood there in wonderment of them simpler times.

Money Talk

I knew what they were doing when they went into their bedrooms. My sister’s guessed but didn’t catch on until much later. 
I didn’t listen in but I awaited with baited breath and watched for minutes on end for the moment they were done and the door knob began to move. My parents always discussed money matters behind closed doors. If the van broke down, if all three kids needed school clothes, if the dog was ill, if dad wanted to buy a 6-Disc CD changer, if a holiday bonus check was light, if the rent was being increased or if my dad lost his wallet again…my parents would retreat into a closed session in their bedroom to deliberate. 
Sometimes loudly. 
All I could do was wait to hear their answer to the problem which usually would mean taking something fun away from my kid-sisters and I. My wife and I manage money different and there are very few secrets when it comes to funds at Casa Torres. I wonder then what the Ramblers think on the occasion when our bedroom door is closed.

Giving Thanks

Chickens fed, wife dropped off at work, dishes in the washer…all before 7 am. 
That was my rushed morning as I pulled up groggy to the gas station on the corner of Route 66 and Mountain at 7:05 am. 
My thoughts were on the day’s itinerary as I opened the door to my car and almost immediately I caught a glimpse of a man at the pump next to mine. I noticed him, took in his wears, glanced at his steely glare and wanted to say something. Something stopped me and I proceeded into the station to get some java and order gasoline. 
He was still there as I began to make my way back to the car and with a sip of coffee in my belly I resolved to address him. I caught him by surprise and in the middle of him wiping the back window of his black sedan. 
I squared up to him, met his gaze, wished him a good morning and thanked him for Service. The soldier in him didn’t miss a beat and almost immediately said “thank you for your support.” 
With that our moment was over but I’d like to think that others before me have shown him appreciation and that’s why he knew just what to say and how to say it.

A Cherub came Home

A cherub came home. 
He was plump and a little wrinkly as I carried him past the threshold. 
For some time his cheeks so pinchable, arms squishable and when he laughed his belly shook like a bowl full of jelly. 
Fast forward a decade just after I picked him up at the airport from his first summer trip. His 5’1″ frame strutted into his home and shocked his mom for a moment. He’s now taller than some adults. Traded the wrinkles for long lean legs and arms. 
His sweetness remains. 
He has not but one care. 
The cherub is gone and 
morphing to debonair.

Something Ain’t Right

Something doesn’t feel right. That’s the emotion you get sometimes. 
Maybe it’s when the tires finally reach your driveway and the faces are not looking at you from the windows. Other times is when your eyes open after a deep sleep and the usual weight at the foot of the bed is now missing. A dull dread creeps in and soon you find yourself searching, pacing, and calling out names. Nerves fray further with each passing minute. Imagination takes over and you run through countless scenarios and outcomes each worse than the last. 
Then you may discover something…the swaying side gate, the unlatched door at the cage or a dug-out hole at the far southern part of the fence. 
That’s when the real concern kicks on and guilt mixes with fright and you wonder if your family will be whole ever again.

Future Obituary – Pledge of Allegiance

Hugo Torres officially became a United State Citizen on June 22, 2016 at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. 
Mr. Torres became an American many years earlier at/about the age of 10 in Mrs. Ross Fourth Grade classroom at Malabar Elementary school. After having spent many months learning English as a second language a young Hugo Torres was handed a small sheet of paper with words first drafted in 1892 by Francis Bellamy. He was told that he would join the rest of the class the next day as they would raise their hands to their hearts in unison and expressed allegiance. Hugo took the sheet home, told his parents and then spent hours on his bed practicing, and practicing and practicing. In the course of that afternoon he had looked up many of the words that then he thought too obscure. Once he understood their weight and realized the responsibility they required he knew he was ready. The next morning, once the class settled down and Mrs. Ross asked the group to rise at attention, young Hugo Torres pledged “allegiance to the flag of the United State of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” Young Hugo caught Mrs. Ross smiling at him as she asked everyone to sit. 
Mr. Torres was an American in his heart from that morning until his passing last Tuesday afternoon. 
Source: Mr. Torres’ Future Obituary.