A few of my friends know that, late in life, I discovered that I have Asperger's syndrome -- or what today is known as autism spectrum disorder or ASD. Some still refuse to believe I have it. And I can understand the reaction. I do not fit the most common ideas of autism. My symptoms, … Continue reading Facing an Intense World
Blame it on an overheated smartphone. Or perhaps it was my grandparents' ghosts reaching out in a high-tech way to pull me closer to them just one more time in my life. It was an astounding experience no matter how it happened. You see, I said my last goodbyes to my grandfather George Lee Waters … Continue reading Revisiting the Duck Waters Barbershop in Burnt Corn, Alabama
In our teen years, all of us have summers that linger with us a lifetime. My biggest was in 1972. It was between my sophomore and junior years in high school. That was when my parents let me spend a month before school at my Aunt Gwen Waters' house. It stood not far from the abandoned … Continue reading A Summer that Lingers a Lifetime
The tragic end of things we have loved is always hard. So it is with Whitfield Memorial Baptist Church in Pensacola. I was baptized and grew up there. And then I watched on Facebook video as the church building was demolished only weeks ago on August 14, 2018. Today, someone from my early and golden … Continue reading The Tragic End of Things We Have Loved
Sometimes songs from decades ago capture memories of past events better than anything else. -- Even when the lyrics have little connection with what actually happened at the time. For me, the most memorable was Gordon Lightfoot's 1976 song, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. I first heard this song at one of the most pivotal … Continue reading The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
Today the church sits in ruins. -- The church where I was baptized. In 2004 Hurricane Ivan was its last knell, breaking through its stained glass windows, leaving holes in its roof. The holes have grown over time. Only a brick hulk remains today, slowly rotting in the summer downpours of this Gulf Coast city, … Continue reading A Testament to the World’s View of Love
Robert Craig Waters 