Remember the look on a child's face when the candles are lit for their first birthday? The wonder, the excitement, (and yes, the quick grab to see little fingers don't touch it).  When you light a candle or see a flame now, does it spark the same amazement?  

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Behind the Closet Door

T.C. McMullen

Murray turned the front doorknob with trembling hands and opened it just a crack to the night beyond. Sweat rose on his forehead and trickled down his temples. He glanced all around to be sure no one stood on the cracked sidewalk outs...

I’ve always been an era behind the times with what I like. I prefer simpler times, old styles, architecture, books, whatever I can find. I spent a good portion of my childhood in and around my grandparents’ farmhouse from the 1800s. 

When I decided to seriousl...

Chasing dragons and woodland creatures was a common thing in my house. It never occurred to me to not let my girls have swords (sticks) and cross bridges (fallen trees in the back woods) and have a special heart tree (a broken stump shaped like a heart). That was norma...

I remember being a kid and being super excited when I got my first brand new shiny bike (yes, that was a thing in my day).  A few weeks ago, I felt that same excitement only the shiny thing was not a bike or any mode of transportation. This was a washing machine. Front...

 I was one lucky kid, living in the rural Pennsylvania mountains. I saw both sets of my grandparents on a regular basis but we lived in a trailer at the end of my maternal grandparent's house so I saw them almost daily.  They had a farm, where my Pap raised cows, and h...

I started a job in advertising a year ago and had a couple things about myself become very clear. The first was that I'm capable of handling big things in a short amount of time. The second - I am totally incapable of doing the exact same thing the exact same way twice...

Life gets hectic, we all know this. More and more it’s crazy for people.  Jobs, school, demands of home, family, and/or friends. Too many of us charge through, day in and day out, and too often there’s this thing called burn-out that happens. But we keep going. 

I...