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The following is the forward written for a collection of short stories, essays and poems
entitled Wanderings and Ruminations.
entitled Wanderings and Ruminations.
Enclosed is a representation of writings I have produced since coming to the writer’s life in
recent years. The reader will find essays, short stories, and poems. Not having the
imagination to produce a truly fictional piece, everything is gleaned from cumulative
experience, observed in hindsight from the distance of time. But each of us look
empirically at events from subject perspectives, so I doubt there exists actual nonfiction.
Historians bring bias and baggage when examining historical data, resulting in history with
a slant. That’s okay with me. I make no bones about these pieces being my perspective
on actual events. The process amounts to myth-making—the explanation of reality
through story.
As a young girl, my wife lost her mother. Eighteen months later her father married Lucille
Norman who ushered my Mary through her teenage years. Lucille was the only mother-in-
law I knew and a grandmother to my sons. Her only family was ours and a niece or two.
The evening of her death, family gathered at the Kindle home, Mary mentioned she had
always wondered how Lucille and her father had renewed an old relation. As young
professionals, they dated until John was transferred to the hinterlands by his company.
The relationship drifted apart. Lucille’s niece, Billie Maureen, chimed in, “Oh, I can tell you
that story. It is hilarious.” Billie revealed a great love story between two middle-age
people, which turned in my mind several years until I spilled it onto paper as The Elevator
Ride. It won a short story award.
The Quarterback And The Boy is a coming of age story based on an experience I had at
age seventeen. My family owned a funeral home in Lubbock, Texas. It has been published
in The Lubbock Magazine. When Mary and I celebrated our thirtieth anniversary, I wrote A
Lovesong To My Mary. Which later won an award for memoire. I express my thoughts in
print much better than I do verbally. I think she understands that and holds these clips of
paper as reminders of my love. Two years later I followed that piece with my first poem,
The Lovesong Plays On, which won an award for free verse poetry. My admiration for
mothers, particularly the mother of my sons, resulted in the respectful, but humorous
poem The Sophisticated Lady. I offered a toast to my younger son and his bride at their
wedding reception. I include it as a peek into our familial setting.
Our family has confronted the gay and the AIDS issues head on. He Was Still A Soldier is
based on a personal experience which prepared me for what would cross our paths years
later. Lamentations Of Things Unsaid is a reflection on the loss of an adopted member of
our family to the AIDS virus.
The Memories In These Old Walls is a sentimental meandering of a man content with all
he has, the memories accumulated within the confines of home. A Most Unusual
Upbringing is a piece of family history written for the Texas Folklore Society regarding the
evolution of the funeral business in West Texas. The Poem The Passage reflects the end
of life for a parent and the anxiety which we feel in that reversal of rolls. An Outreach Holy
Night as published in a Christian publication, was based on a Christmas in 1990 at
our church. I hope The Smart Ass makes you chuckle. It is just for fun. The essay
on reading is self-explanatory. The Big Hook was written for, and published in, a
national newsletter for prison ministry, a program I have served the past seven
years
The greatest reward for those of us who put pen to paper is for the reader to enjoy
the experience, whether you agree or not. Kick back and just relax.
recent years. The reader will find essays, short stories, and poems. Not having the
imagination to produce a truly fictional piece, everything is gleaned from cumulative
experience, observed in hindsight from the distance of time. But each of us look
empirically at events from subject perspectives, so I doubt there exists actual nonfiction.
Historians bring bias and baggage when examining historical data, resulting in history with
a slant. That’s okay with me. I make no bones about these pieces being my perspective
on actual events. The process amounts to myth-making—the explanation of reality
through story.
As a young girl, my wife lost her mother. Eighteen months later her father married Lucille
Norman who ushered my Mary through her teenage years. Lucille was the only mother-in-
law I knew and a grandmother to my sons. Her only family was ours and a niece or two.
The evening of her death, family gathered at the Kindle home, Mary mentioned she had
always wondered how Lucille and her father had renewed an old relation. As young
professionals, they dated until John was transferred to the hinterlands by his company.
The relationship drifted apart. Lucille’s niece, Billie Maureen, chimed in, “Oh, I can tell you
that story. It is hilarious.” Billie revealed a great love story between two middle-age
people, which turned in my mind several years until I spilled it onto paper as The Elevator
Ride. It won a short story award.
The Quarterback And The Boy is a coming of age story based on an experience I had at
age seventeen. My family owned a funeral home in Lubbock, Texas. It has been published
in The Lubbock Magazine. When Mary and I celebrated our thirtieth anniversary, I wrote A
Lovesong To My Mary. Which later won an award for memoire. I express my thoughts in
print much better than I do verbally. I think she understands that and holds these clips of
paper as reminders of my love. Two years later I followed that piece with my first poem,
The Lovesong Plays On, which won an award for free verse poetry. My admiration for
mothers, particularly the mother of my sons, resulted in the respectful, but humorous
poem The Sophisticated Lady. I offered a toast to my younger son and his bride at their
wedding reception. I include it as a peek into our familial setting.
Our family has confronted the gay and the AIDS issues head on. He Was Still A Soldier is
based on a personal experience which prepared me for what would cross our paths years
later. Lamentations Of Things Unsaid is a reflection on the loss of an adopted member of
our family to the AIDS virus.
The Memories In These Old Walls is a sentimental meandering of a man content with all
he has, the memories accumulated within the confines of home. A Most Unusual
Upbringing is a piece of family history written for the Texas Folklore Society regarding the
evolution of the funeral business in West Texas. The Poem The Passage reflects the end
of life for a parent and the anxiety which we feel in that reversal of rolls. An Outreach Holy
Night as published in a Christian publication, was based on a Christmas in 1990 at
our church. I hope The Smart Ass makes you chuckle. It is just for fun. The essay
on reading is self-explanatory. The Big Hook was written for, and published in, a
national newsletter for prison ministry, a program I have served the past seven
years
The greatest reward for those of us who put pen to paper is for the reader to enjoy
the experience, whether you agree or not. Kick back and just relax.
A.C. Sanders III Writer
Portfolio page 1
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| A FOREWORD |