This Is David Staples

You saw my pain, washed out in the rain Broken glass, saw the blood run from my veins But you saw no fault no cracks in my heart And you knelt beside my hope torn apart But the ghosts that we knew will flicker from you And we'll live a long life So give me hope in the darkness that I will see the light 'Cause oh that gave me such a fright But I will hold as long as you like Just promise me we'll be alright - Mumford and Sons It’s been a rough week. The things I posted did a number on me. I the last couple of days off just to get my bearings.   (I also wanted to give my thumb a break. Gotta love RA.) It was like I was digging into things I had closed up and slid into the back of the closet. But, as any good exorcism movie shows, when you’re getting rid of ghosts, things sometimes get worse before they get better. I am assuming that is what happens in those movies; I don’t watch horror movies. I was unfortunate enough to see bits and pieces of the trailer for a new exorcism m...

Monday, September 9, 2019 The last time I lived in the same town as my brother was 1987, when we still lived in the big blue house in West Palm Beach. First, he went away to school in Boca Raton. Then I went away to school in Orlando. I moved to Tampa while he ended up in Athens, Georgia. He then made jaunts to Irvine, California and Madison, Wisconsin and Tempe, Arizona while I continued to circumnavigate Florida: Tampa, Jacksonville, Orlando again, Tallahassee, Orlando again. We had a brief flirtation with being in the same city once. He stayed with us in Orlando after he decided to move back to Florida. He toyed with the idea of living in the City Beautiful, but the beach won out, and he settled in Melbourne. He eventually went full-circle and returned to West Palm Beach, like most of our family does at some point. Meanwhile, my little clan and I broke free of the Florida eddy and ventured to Columbia, South Carolina; Houston, Texas; and Columbia, South Carolina again. The physical ...

Tuesday, February 23, 1999 My dad turned 70 on Saturday, February 20, 1999. I was working that day, helping out with the youth group’s DiscipleNOW weekend. They were gallivanting all over the place. My job was to head up north of town to a church member’s huge open property and get things in order for the big afternoon activity. I think they were playing Capture the Flag   (or  a church version of that) and doing a bonfire that evening. I didn’t have to stick around for the duration; I just was the person getting things ready. I arrived early and decided to take advantage of the wait to call my dad on my cell phone. I wasn’t the earliest of adopters with technology, but I did get on board quickly on most things. I had a beeper in college - and dealt with all the questions of if I was a drug dealer. Then I got a cell phone pretty soon after college - and dealt with all the questions of if I was a drug dealer. I felt it was a justifiable expense. I lived hours away from my paren...