Broken. In a society that prizes perfection - or at least the image of perfection - being “broken” is akin to being junk. “Nobody wants that one - it’s broken!” “Why did you give me this - it’s broken!’ and so on… As someone who has struggled with chronic pain, depression, and all the ancillary drawbacks those conditions come with I felt broken. Everything that was bad in my life - my nonexistent relationship with my parents, my struggles as a father, as a husband, as a friend - those all tracked back to me being broken.

I grew up in a middle class family in a middle class neighborhood, and went to a middle-class to upper middle-class grade school and high school. The term “diversity” didn’t apply to my life - it was pretty much white, middle class, and christian. The dark side of this experience was the casual racism that everyone just took for granted. This wasn’t just the way the kids acted - it was the parents as well.

I’ve never really been one for reunions; they always have a weird feel to them. Maybe it’s just me, but for the most part the people I want to keep in touch with I already keep in touch with in various ways. That’s not to sound elitist or anti-social; that’s just the way I am. Writing this has caused me to reflect on this and try and put my finger on exactly what bothers me about these events.

Last Friday, I walked my daughter down the aisle on her wedding day. Despite being a bit nervous about making an ass out of myself - prior to the wedding day I had visions of stepping on the giant bottom of the dress and falling flat on my face - I think it went pretty well. I mean, she made it up to the end of the aisle to the celebrant.

What can I possibly say about Ray Bradbury that hasn’t already been said? The man was a visionary, a literary giant, and a storyteller for the ages. I’ve often told people that Ray Bradbury’s grocery lists probably read better than my poetry and prose. In grade school I read The Illustrated Man, R is for Rocket and S is for Space. In high school, I read The Martian Chronicles, Dandelion Wine, Fahrenheit 451, and Something Wicked this Way Comes.