LJ HOLMES PRESENTS: THE CALLING OF MIKE MALONE

I was seven when my father died. Hard age for a boy. Most kids got to learn how to swing a bat,

toss a football,

dribble a basketball, and you, know GUY things, from their dads. It's kind of hard learning those things when the dad you talk to and long to be close to

has moved on the next world.

As I was growing up, I imagined Dad sitting up there in

Heaven wishing he could be down here tossing me into the air and giggling right along with me when he caught me in mid-fall.

I longed to do simple things

that most boys

with dads take

for granted, like spending time taking me to the At-Home games of our baseball and footbal leagues.

I'm not really all that crazy about basketball, so didn't mind so much missing out on those. I do remember Henry Whitsell once bragging about the

hockey game his dad took him to and must admit I found myself turning a bit

green with envy. How cool would that be...celebrating with my dad a game that encourages beating

the teeth out of your opponent?

I didn't stay seven all that long. When I got my

permit to drive, I really, really wished my Dad was at my side. Don't get me wrong, I eventually DID get my driver's license, but like me, I think Mom would have been delighted if Dad had been here to spare her my stops and starts on the pathway to getting that license.

Going away to college was weird. Call me crazy, and believe me I've called myself that many times, but I swear every now and then, it feels like I'm being watched!

Twenty-one! I'm officially a man now.

2/3rds of my life, I've been fatherless...and yet. Remember that weirdness I told you about? It's escalating. A time or two I've turned really fast and could swear I'd seen my dad in the guy scurrying away like his

tail's on fire.

I don't know what's going on, but I've got this nagging feeling, my life's about to change big time!

For the better?

The Calling of Mike Malone by M.L. Archer  is coming from the

Muse It Up Publishing side of Muse Publishing, Inc. this August 2011.

Click on the direct links for M.L. Archer's BLOG and AUTHOR'S PAGE

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