Another Day, One Year Removed

According to this website, Martin Luther King Day is a federal holiday held on the third Monday of January. It celebrates the life and achievements of Martin Luther King Jr., an influential American civil rights leader. He is most well-known for his campaigns to end racial segregation on public transport and for racial equality in the United States.

On MLK Day a year ago, Mark was watching a parade in Chipley, Florida. He had six more days of walking ahead of him before he’d be hit and killed walking westward, along U.S. 90.

I started watching Mark’s videos back in October. This was just prior the beautiful event that Brown (Mark’s library co-workers and members of the school’s literary arts department) held on a perfect fall day that also happened to be Josiah Carberry Day.

Each day I watched and wrote through the fall, as I was navigating Medicare’s Annual Enrollment Period as an insurance rep, trying to supplement my income, selling Medicare Advantage insurance. I made several trips down the coast and back, working on a story about Bucksport and the closing of its mill. I began tutoring in September at Hyde School, a private boarding school nearby where Cher’s son attended, as well as Michael McDonald’s (of The Doobie Brothers) son. Continue reading

Staying Married

Popular culture often fixates on falling in love. Rarely does a movie, a book, or even popular song, pay tribute to staying in love. Divorce statistics cite that about 41 percent of first marriages end in divorce. We also know that people aren’t getting married as often as they have in the past.

So how do you stay married to the same person for 32 years? I’m not sure I have a formula worked out. Mary and I took some detours, and spent time bumping along in the ditch, before we managed to get our ride back on the smooth blacktop. That’s probably common for many people when first married.

I do know that back in 1978, I met a wonderfully, special young lady who was 17-years-old. We were both too young and lacking in life experience to fully grasp the ramifications of what was about to happen.

When you get married young, you are apt to grow up together—or eventually grow apart. Luckily for us, the former happened.

Marriage Day, July 17, 1982.

Marriage Day, July 17, 1982.

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