When she was 16, all the kids did it; coughing and gagging a small price to pay Within weeks, she was hooked for life; just like you wanted Fifty years later, a pack a day; before switching to vaping By then it was too late; a mass was found in her lung She died 8…
Author: Steve Ainslie
Unexpected
I didn’t plan to fall in love with an older woman, and help parent another man’s kids; I didn’t foresee that she would get sick, and for 15 years would need my help; I didn’t think the lump would turn out to be cancer, and that there would 8 months of suffering; I didn’t know…
Can’t Go Home Again
The other day I visited my old neighborhood in Raleigh where I used to live to meet a friend for a walk through the park. I hadn’t been there in more than 4 years. A few thing had changed – some McMansions and townhomes were built, some older homes were now painted different colors and…
All Out Of Love
When you died so did a part of me. I didn’t know I would never want to love again. I’d rather live in the memories. Which is why I keep everyone at arm’s length. I have no more love to give.
Poetry
A friend spoke to me about reading and writing poetry recently. He read some to me as we walked through the park. I was so inspired, I thought I’d give it a shot. My poetry posts will be posted under the category poetry and will share a design that clearly differentiates them my essays. We’ll…
Missing The Point
I once had a boss who was a very high-energy guy. He was intelligent, thoughtful and driven, but also more than a little manic and scattered. One day when we were talking about fitness, he said he needed to start a regular routine to get into shape. I told him that I practiced ashtanga yoga…
Above And Beyond
Back in 2008, I started a new job as one of 10 sales people. The company, Citrix, was the largest company I had ever worked for. It had thousands of sales people and over 7000 employees worldwide. Prior to this, I’d always worked in small companies where I was the only sales person. Often, my…
Danger, Will Robinson
Because I walk my dog several times a day for 45-60 minutes and I swim every day (state law mandates that indoor pools kick everyone out if it thunders), I check the weather forecast several times throughout the day. My favorite site is Accuweather because it provides hourly forecasts and radar maps that have been…
An Artist Like…Me?
Three times in the past year I’ve had workers in house ask me about my paintings. It makes sense, since I have hundreds of them all over the walls. Connecting over art seems to be a natural conversation starter. They ask about my paintings and then tell me stories about their own drawings or their…
Phoning It In
My Google fiber installation was completed yesterday. Overall the entire process was impressive. Google did a good job communicating. Before the crews began digging to run fiber cables throughout my neighborhood 6 month ago, they put leaflets on everyone door explaining what they were doing, the process and providing a phone number to call in…