109 Comments
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Paul DeLong's avatar

Well that we don't completely escape them. They are the oregano and perhaps even the pepperoni flavoring our depths, even though they cause heartburn. Thanks for the story...and the question.💔

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wendy's avatar

I loved the passion in your story - job, girlfriend, nostalgia, memories that endure (good and bad),

etc

But what really struck me is the line regarding fame...

Don't you want me to read you?

Now I feel guilty knowing who you are and caring for your words

Don't you desire an audience for your heartfelt words?

How can it come about without the nuisance of any endeavor?

Like ;

Hiking/mosquitoes

flirting/trouble

food/ health issues

school/ addiction to learning and never working

all things have a balancing act

absolute power corrupts absolutely...watch out Elon/Trump

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Stacy DeBritz's avatar

I hope Greg reaches out. Are you following George and Gloria the Canadian geese who mate and hatch eggs yearly near Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane?

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Maribella's avatar

Another poignant, provacative 'slice of life' story. I love the juxtaposition of stage fright being a possibility for Greg's hesitancy, to his showing up with his "peaches" visible. I hope he never stopped singing—whether jingles, songs, in his car or the shower. You are a treasure; your writing inspires me!

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Ana Levy-Lyons's avatar

Such a beautiful story, Sherman, and a really important reminder that while the stories of politics and global events are churning, these are the stories continually unfolding in our lives that actually make the most difference.

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Terry Moisan's avatar

We do escape those places but memory never lets go. Love for the people who know and love you anyway.

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Jack Duane's avatar

"...up on housing project hill, it's either fortune of fame, you must pick one or the other , neither are to be what they claim..."

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Nancy Janzen's avatar

Yes, I think it's possible but never easy. It seems it has to be intentional at the very least, an awareness that you're not really happy or where you're meant to be. Then, how to do it, to get 'out' and not just someplace different that's really the same. Self-awareness, always needed. Thanks.

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Michelle Francois-Walsh's avatar

an essay about pizza, radio jingles, and busted romances... the thing that I love about your writing Sherman, is your story telling. ALL of us at one point or another have had a Greg in our lives. ALL of us have had a shit boss who wasn't completely terrible but enough terrible we left our place of employment. In these uncertain times, I appreciate the way you help me forget about reality for a moment, and step into the beauty of this life.

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Venus Velvet's avatar

No we never do. I think it’s because we were meant to be there and when we finally do move on, it’s not an escape. The universe opens up and the creator says “it’s time to get the hell outta here.” If we are lucky, we have learned to listen💓

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Sarlos Cantana's avatar

>Man, do any of us ever escape those places where we never wanted to be?

Love that. I'd never compare myself to Billy Joel but I do remember one night, late, in a fire station, a grizzled firefighter looked me up and down and asked what I'd done for a living before this. "I was a journalist," I told him and he looked me dead in the eye and said, "What are you doing here?"

I quit not long after.

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Constance Albrecht's avatar

I'll never forget my "survival jobs." And I'm still anxious every day about having enough money, although that is unnecessary now.

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Kim TallBear's avatar

what a great story to close the day with. thank you for that one.

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Elizabeth Beggins's avatar

Just as you are still creating beautiful written works, I hope, wherever Greg is, he's still singing!

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Lenny Cavallaro's avatar

Thank you for sharing this absolutely beautiful anecdote!

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Jodi Sh. Doff's avatar

No baby. We do not. We drag em around behind us forever, grateful they’re behind , not ahead of us.

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