Aspiretalks

We were midway through the scoreless first period of the wrestling match and I could feel my body beginning to loosen, to gain speed and move more fluidly. It seemed my matches always started the same— an anxious stiffness, almost clumsiness—too aware of my every awkward movement. I had earned the opportunity to wrestle-off for […]

The Anticipated Games There’s no shortage of impact from the global pandemic our world has endured. Due to COVID-19, the “2020” Summer Olympics are part of the history that is 2021. As such, we got a chance to experience the Winter Olympics just a few months later. I love the Olympics. Although I’m someone […]

The Unanswered Message I missed the initial call. But when my phone rang a second time immediately after at 6:50 AM on a Saturday morning, I knew something was up, and it likely wasn’t something good. I felt this deep in my soul especially when the caller ID told me it was a patient with […]

The smell of earth filled every gasping breath as I slid face-first across the ground; muddy ooze flowing over the face mask of my bulky football helmet. Where did he even come from? At 12 years old I was 75 lbs and only chest high to the majority of kids my age. And though I […]

From my earliest years I can remember my parents’ beautiful dancing. It didn’t happen often, but at the occasional wedding or banquet where “their music” was available, boy could Robert and Esther Rayner cut the rug. It was beautiful to watch. Neither fancy nor showy, it displayed an effortlessness and oneness that spoke of familiarity, […]

One of the most dreaded experiences during middle school was to walk into a classroom and suddenly see all eyes turn and focus on your groin as someone gleefully declares, “XYZPDQ!” Then comes the clumsy scramble of trying to find the little tab on the zipper as a blush blossoms across your face—suppressed laughter filling […]

In the medical and emotional hurricane of COVID-19, certain clinical terms have become commonplace. “Asymptomatic,” “vector,” “mRNA,” terms previously used only by those in the medical and science fields are now part of the conversational lexicon of the English language. We’ve seen new terms develop also including the ill-defined “long-haulers.” This unfortunate group includes those […]

“Times!” someone would shout for some reason or another. Then the race was on, and if I was fortunate enough to get there first, I would grab the garden hose from the drinking end, quickly turn the spigot on full blast and wait impatiently for the stale, hot, rubbery water to clear the hose. Then […]

In the early 1960’s RCA promoted its new color TVs as “the gift that keeps on giving.” One had to buy the television first of course, but then there was the promise of potential years of enjoyment. Fatherhood is like that, too. Like anything valuable, it takes effort, a cost, if you will, to enter […]

The neon sign in the tiny urban diner window read, “WORLD’S BEST CUP OF COFFEE.” Buddy the elf, having just moved to NYC from the North Pole, couldn’t contain his excitement. He burst into the diner and declared to the unsuspecting staff and guests, “You did it! Congratulations! World’s best cup of coffee…great job everybody…it’s […]