Meant to comment a while back. I like your tone and humor .... dry?? Doesn't matter straight up no ice ☺️ Your articles are an easy fun read which is imp when is stretched Love the photos. New Orleans great theme
If it were a movie, the final scene would be the two of us pulling out of some little town somewhere in the Southwest. A convertible with the top down. Me behind the wheel. My fifteen-year-old son, arm on the window. The shot framed tight on the back of the car as it pulls out onto a two-lane highway and the fades off into the distance as the camera lifts up into the sky and the shot widens until the car is just a Matchbox on an endless road as the credits roll.
if you ever want to get your hands on the finale props for your scene, I can put you in touch with a 1962 or 1969 Buick Skylark convertibles. We Jerseyans are very fond of our nostalgia pieces. My 1971 Daytona 500 motorcycle was integrated in my life way before my children and has always migrated with me. The revisited story of my first date with their dad has been worth the cost of housing all these years. Our families come to understand that this is what is the most meaningful material stuff we intend to stick our children with upon our passing. And For some reason this thought entertains me.
Love being part of your stories - as others say, the way you write makes me "see" the scenes & experiences almost as if I were a physical observer. It is a gift you give with your writing, on top of the gift you give your son by centering him... (and oddly the gift you give yourself in making memories & building a community of on-line strangers who care about you & your son.)
I'm just buggin that your son is 15 now, seems like yesterday he was still sitting in a booster seat in the car. Anyway, as usual you know how to craft a story and how to tell it. I've never been to New Orleans but it doesn't matter because you took me there and I saw all of it, through your eyes and your words. It put me so much more into the tale you were telling. I like the part of going outside to breathe and take inventory of how far you have or haven't come. I do the same every year on my birthday, which is next week, and I've had some years where the train was most definitely derailed. As usual, your stories serve as a reminder, a memory, and an understanding.
Shoo-whee, man, you are one powerful tale-weaver who grabs early and doesn't let go. Such profound truths and hard-earned insights, Mike -- thanks for opening the memory vein with relatable reflections. This is like a therapy session without a clock or fee, or a philosophy seminar without tuition.
And you sure squeeze tightly here, namechecking a plaything of my childhood: "the shot widens until the car is just a Matchbox on an endless road as the credits roll." Diving deep to a diecast touchstone.
So awesome! And the pictures you captured are amazing. Your son is going to look back on these trips with you when he has his own family and really cherish the experiences, and it seems it will help him build those types of memories with his own kids. I’m here for it!
Wonderful stuff here. Love the mix of memories, present details and fantasies although I fear Kerouac might not be up to narrating anyone else's life! Those guys were fun but focused solely on their own feelings. You write about the end of your marriage with grace. When there is a deeply loved child that changes everything.
Ain’t that the truth. I never understand when divorced parents carry on their war with each other only now by proxy through their kids. The most freeing moment early in my separation was the moment I thought to myself “Okay, it’s all about my son now. My job is just to do what’s best for him.”
As usual, getting me right in the feels. My son is my best work on this little blue sphere and my travels with him my greatest joy, so yeah, I couldn’t relate more.
"When the good things are the fewest, that's when we need them the most." Mike, you're not only a writer, you're also a damn fine one. That line, put exactly that way, will stay with me. Thanks.
For whatever reason, your writing feels like I’m getting a letter from a close friend who has that ability to be honest and open about their life. When I see the email I can’t read it until I’m in an uninterrupted place to take it in. I don’t have a son or daughter, but I have a father I’ve always had a very close relationship with. He is 94 and I’m 67 and while our adventures have changed over the years, it is still a magical experience that I’m grateful I still have in my life. Damn the years go way too fast! Thanks again for sharing your life with us.
What an incredible story, yet again. Thanks for letting us all in to these moments. Love that you and Lil Hoarse made the best of everything and had a meaningful trip.
I've always loved the twitter One Good Thing threads. It's a great place to celebrate everyone's small victories in a world that can be overwhelming. I'll approach the Friday tradition with a little more appreciation and reverence going forward. Great stuff.
I love how you speak of your son's mom as "his other parent" and not "my ex wife". I think you've written about this before. It speaks volumes to your commitment to your son to see his other parent as half of the best thing in your world, rather than a severed thread of your past. Just wanted to say that's cool. 🙂
Glad you guys are home safe. Hope Lil Hoarse continues to heal and is back in the game again soon.
Thank you for all that you share - what a beautiful realization for you this time around at your special NOLA restaurant! visualizing how you want to feel when you're in the midst of turmoil is one of the best advice I'd received when I was in the midst of mine... I'm sure you've helped so many with your "one good thing" posts on "that other site".
The very best way to travel is the way you do: "We just set off and make it up as we go and roll on through whatever comes."
Meant to comment a while back. I like your tone and humor .... dry?? Doesn't matter straight up no ice ☺️ Your articles are an easy fun read which is imp when is stretched Love the photos. New Orleans great theme
If it were a movie, the final scene would be the two of us pulling out of some little town somewhere in the Southwest. A convertible with the top down. Me behind the wheel. My fifteen-year-old son, arm on the window. The shot framed tight on the back of the car as it pulls out onto a two-lane highway and the fades off into the distance as the camera lifts up into the sky and the shot widens until the car is just a Matchbox on an endless road as the credits roll.
if you ever want to get your hands on the finale props for your scene, I can put you in touch with a 1962 or 1969 Buick Skylark convertibles. We Jerseyans are very fond of our nostalgia pieces. My 1971 Daytona 500 motorcycle was integrated in my life way before my children and has always migrated with me. The revisited story of my first date with their dad has been worth the cost of housing all these years. Our families come to understand that this is what is the most meaningful material stuff we intend to stick our children with upon our passing. And For some reason this thought entertains me.
Family heirlooms.
Love being part of your stories - as others say, the way you write makes me "see" the scenes & experiences almost as if I were a physical observer. It is a gift you give with your writing, on top of the gift you give your son by centering him... (and oddly the gift you give yourself in making memories & building a community of on-line strangers who care about you & your son.)
I'm just buggin that your son is 15 now, seems like yesterday he was still sitting in a booster seat in the car. Anyway, as usual you know how to craft a story and how to tell it. I've never been to New Orleans but it doesn't matter because you took me there and I saw all of it, through your eyes and your words. It put me so much more into the tale you were telling. I like the part of going outside to breathe and take inventory of how far you have or haven't come. I do the same every year on my birthday, which is next week, and I've had some years where the train was most definitely derailed. As usual, your stories serve as a reminder, a memory, and an understanding.
Shoo-whee, man, you are one powerful tale-weaver who grabs early and doesn't let go. Such profound truths and hard-earned insights, Mike -- thanks for opening the memory vein with relatable reflections. This is like a therapy session without a clock or fee, or a philosophy seminar without tuition.
And you sure squeeze tightly here, namechecking a plaything of my childhood: "the shot widens until the car is just a Matchbox on an endless road as the credits roll." Diving deep to a diecast touchstone.
So awesome! And the pictures you captured are amazing. Your son is going to look back on these trips with you when he has his own family and really cherish the experiences, and it seems it will help him build those types of memories with his own kids. I’m here for it!
Wonderful stuff here. Love the mix of memories, present details and fantasies although I fear Kerouac might not be up to narrating anyone else's life! Those guys were fun but focused solely on their own feelings. You write about the end of your marriage with grace. When there is a deeply loved child that changes everything.
Ain’t that the truth. I never understand when divorced parents carry on their war with each other only now by proxy through their kids. The most freeing moment early in my separation was the moment I thought to myself “Okay, it’s all about my son now. My job is just to do what’s best for him.”
So happy you could go back and let go of that baggage! I still have some to let go of 25 yrs after my divorce, even without having kids.
Happiness it makes for some of your best writing.
You make me cry every darn time.
Truth
Less.... “smell of hospitals in winter, and the feeling that it’s all a lot of oysters but no pearls.”
Less Long Decembers. More and more “short Augusts” and now “epic Aprils”.
Less *One* Good Thing. More *Many* Good Things.
I’m so darn happy for you.
As usual, getting me right in the feels. My son is my best work on this little blue sphere and my travels with him my greatest joy, so yeah, I couldn’t relate more.
"When the good things are the fewest, that's when we need them the most." Mike, you're not only a writer, you're also a damn fine one. That line, put exactly that way, will stay with me. Thanks.
No joke, this should be a T-shirt.
For whatever reason, your writing feels like I’m getting a letter from a close friend who has that ability to be honest and open about their life. When I see the email I can’t read it until I’m in an uninterrupted place to take it in. I don’t have a son or daughter, but I have a father I’ve always had a very close relationship with. He is 94 and I’m 67 and while our adventures have changed over the years, it is still a magical experience that I’m grateful I still have in my life. Damn the years go way too fast! Thanks again for sharing your life with us.
What an incredible story, yet again. Thanks for letting us all in to these moments. Love that you and Lil Hoarse made the best of everything and had a meaningful trip.
I've always loved the twitter One Good Thing threads. It's a great place to celebrate everyone's small victories in a world that can be overwhelming. I'll approach the Friday tradition with a little more appreciation and reverence going forward. Great stuff.
I love how you speak of your son's mom as "his other parent" and not "my ex wife". I think you've written about this before. It speaks volumes to your commitment to your son to see his other parent as half of the best thing in your world, rather than a severed thread of your past. Just wanted to say that's cool. 🙂
Glad you guys are home safe. Hope Lil Hoarse continues to heal and is back in the game again soon.
Thank you for all that you share - what a beautiful realization for you this time around at your special NOLA restaurant! visualizing how you want to feel when you're in the midst of turmoil is one of the best advice I'd received when I was in the midst of mine... I'm sure you've helped so many with your "one good thing" posts on "that other site".
The very best way to travel is the way you do: "We just set off and make it up as we go and roll on through whatever comes."