20th Century Description

Planting a Tree	The miraculous portfolio of nature sets a prototype. You bury a seed. .You nurture it. It grows. So is the structure of parenthood. The seed does not always have awareness, nor does it acknowledge the water or the sun, but it continues to respond and produce in the genetic time-honored tradition of fathers handing down lessons to their sons while “Planting a Tree.”
She Was All I Ever Wanted	A young man goes through few rites of passage—his voice changes, he gets a driver’s license, he falls in love, and finally gains acceptance as a man—not necessarily in that order. Two of these moments are recalled in “She Was All I Ever Wanted” and “DiMaggio’s Pitch” from J. David Abbott’s collection of “Firsts.”
DiMaggio's Pitch
The Waiting Room	Cancer is a vicious and cruel villain that knows no boundaries of class or compassion. It is especially heinous when it attacks a child. A mother with a young son in the cancer ward finds a small ray of hope to assuage her despair in “The Waiting Room.”
Potholes in the Road	Poverty can often inhibit the flourishing of full potential in human beings, but a young girl, knowing full well her circumstance, strives to avoid the pitfalls and bumps of economic deprival and social outcasting by maneuvering past the “Potholes in the Road.”
The Necessity of Funeral Clothes	Small towns have their own set of unique customs and perspectives. In his collection, Everyman in Trumann, J. David Abbott reflects on topics from the necessity of funeral clothes to shocking confessions made at the local beauty salon based on events he observed firsthand as a boy while spending summers at his grandmother’s home in Trumann, Arkansas.
Current Events at the Cut and Curl
Saturday Night at the Fluff and Fold	From the Everyman in Trumann Collection: Who knows what fate will bring through the front door when you least expect it? –even when engaged in the most menial of tasks, such as doing your laundry at the local washateria. But Earl Friendly has been witness as well as proprietor long enough to know that destiny can intervene at the drop of a rinse cycle. And perhaps, if he is patient enough, it will be kind to him as well.
Promise Me Passion Red	Losing a parent is a devastating loss, but losing a parent to Alzheimer’s disease is similar to having the foundation pulled out from under the family homestead while still living in it. A daughter writes of the pain and the sweetness evoked as she tends her ailing mother in the hospital, with memories that are gloriously painted in “Promise Me Passion Red.”
The Smell of Oranges	Memory is often triggered by sensory input—a sight, a sound, a smell. A young man recalls the legacy and sacrifices of his father, evoked by a familiar aroma.
I Want To Be a Loser	From The Deadly Ds Collection According to the acclimated wisdom of a Southern-born poet who spent most of his adult life on both coasts, there are decidedly two deadly Ds in life: dieting and dating.
(-: online date :-)
The Wedding	This is the second trip to the altar for Mary Louise. The first time the groom failed to show up, but his presence has been confirmed and the crab salad is on ice--what can go wrong? A surprising revelation is about to be revealed at "The Wedding."
The Bluebonnet Cafe	There is a hero in each one of us—sometimes we just need the right circumstance and motivation to evoke our most noble instincts. What better than true love served up sweet and warm at the Bluebonnet Café?
The Homecoming Queen	Revenge smells sweet as a woman returns to her high school class reunion to upstage the girl who stole from her the title that she believes should have gone to her. But unexpected events can spoil the best-laid plots and melt the most embittered of hearts when Amy is reunited with “The Homecoming Queen.”