Waiting for the next morsel?
Dear Hope Nation, In writing these daily letters, I think a lot about what readers tell me. Some of the letters that most impressed me when I posted them impose “meh” on most readers. Likewise, some letters I don’t think much of turn out to be very popular. As an...
Make sure your gratitude outweighs your regret
Dear Hope Nation, Yesterday, my mom would have been 91. Since she left this vale of tears more than 19 years ago, yesterday wasn’t emotionally difficult, but it did provide some time for thought and reflection. My mother was a dear woman, whose patience was definitely...
Whatever Their Situation
Dear Hope Nation, Today, when I walk into a store or business, I’m generally treated pretty well. As long as I keep my jackassery to a minimum, customers and clerks alike act like I’m a real live grown-up. As this picture demonstrates, I look safe as milk and slightly...
Person-to-person, peer-to-peer
Dear Hope Nation, I graduated third from the bottom of my high school class. As I recall, I was given a D- in biology as a sophomore, and the reason I did that well was the teacher, a kind and patient man, was fed up with my jackassery and didn’t want to have to teach...
Do the next right thing
Dear Hope Nation, Do the next right thing. When I first got into recovery, slogans were like wisdom pills. They were small, easy to keep in my mental pocket and ready to be popped when needed. Some of those slogans helped save my life. “Think through the drink.” “You...
Just remember how far you have come
Dear Hope Nation, Alone in the world, I’m afraid, Kevin Costner’s movie “The Postman” is one of my favorites of all time. Without going into a plot summary, Richard Starkey, the president of the Restored United States of America, has a saying: “Stuff’s getting better...
I’m Allergic to Raspberries
Dear Hope Nation, The foreseeable future of recovery was revealed in yesterday’s letter. Using the analogy of drupulets, the little balls of deliciousness on a raspberry, I explained in a manner both fanciful and masterful how different small groups could, using very...
The recovery raspberry has been invented
Dear Hope Nation, I have seen the future, and it seems to work well enough. Who would have guessed it would be based on raspberries? A landing party has returned from the Land of After, and all their preliminary reports are excellent. At the beginning of our journey...
Bad Book Titles
Dear Hope Nation, We’ve been living through heavy times. Hard times. Times that try men’s and women’s souls. For today, I’d like to lighten up a bit. What follows is complete and utter nonsense. If you’re looking for a serious piece on recovery, on hope, on mental...
We will not change who we are, but we will change the things we do
Dear Hope Nation, Change has been my focus for the past two-and-a-half months, and quite rightly so. As you know, almost 100,000 Americans have died from COVID-19, the unemployment rate in New Hampshire is around 20%, and Hope for New Hampshire Recovery has been...
Their stories are our stories
Dear Hope Nation, Today is Memorial Day, the day we honor our military dead, those who died while in uniform. Five years ago I delivered a speech at Veterans Park, following the Memorial Day Parade. This is that speech, which, unfortunately, is as timely now as it was...
The music I’ve loved and somehow forgotten
Dear Hope Nation, It’s a beautiful day! So beautiful that as soon as I’m done with this I’m going outside to turn some of this pasty white skin of mine into a shining lobster-like red. You can see the results tonight at Derryfield Park from 5 to 6 for a Pop-Up...
You aren’t alone
Dear Hope Nation, This letter may be directed at the one person in the world who absolutely needs to read it. I don’t know if you’re that person, and neither do you until you’ve read every. Last. Word. I’ve written openly about my addictions and about my mental...
Action From All of Us
Dear Hope Nation, Land, Ho! is an expression used by sailors once they’ve spotted land. It doesn’t necessarily mean they’re ready to land or even intend to, but it alerts all on the ship that land has been seen. “Land Ho!” is also a great album by the Forest Rangers,...
The Upside of Ifs
Dear Hope Nation Thirteen years ago today, I knew what the rest of my life held. The rest of my life would be over within the week. I was implementing a scheme, a plot, a plan. This plan had three steps: Take a bus from Manchester to Hanover, New Hampshire, carrying...
Up until it didn’t
Dear Hope Nation, Some of you may remember the letters around Easter—which seems at least a decade ago—where I stole a trope from Black Baptist preachers, and talked about where Jesus and his followers were on Good Friday. Jesus in the grave, darkness in the sky and...
Relationships have some mystical aura and so do recovery meetings
Dear Hope Nation, Today is May 19, and we’ve spotted the Land of After! Or at least an initial party, gathered in bright sunlight at Derryfield Park from 11 to noon, had a chance to see what recovery may feel like for many in the next few glorious months. About a...
Overwhelmed (to tears) by a Work of Art
Dear Hope Nation, To quote Joel Goodson in “Risky Business” (or at least the bowdlerized over-the-air television version), “Sometimes you just gotta say, ‘What the heck.’” This, for me, is one of those moments. After all, it’s not often I have tears streaming down my...
Some of my favorites in no particular order
Dear Hope Nation, Ever since I was in the Army, I’ve loved books of quotations. While some quotes are mere cocktail peanuts—pleasant enough but not hunger-satisfying—others are like Willie Wonka’s Magic Chewing Gum that contains a three-course meal. (Unlike Wonka’s...
…being held in the hand of recovery by the gathered crowd
Dear Hope Nation, I’ve been accused, often rightly, of cynicism. No matter how fluttering the eyelids of the person telling me that astrology is based on research, that lines on my palm really do predict (or determine) my future, that tarot cards are a way for me to...
No Zoom Required For This One
Dear Hope Nation, [Read on for a fairly exciting announcement. Those of you who know me know I often bury the lead. After a Family Circus-like traipse around the neighborhood, I eventually end up with a payoff. This is that.] I’ve known for a long time I’m the...
Feel free to call and tell me I’m a baby
Dear Hope Nation, As I mentioned yesterday, a friend asked me to write a brief (300-or-so word) piece on the subject, “What I Miss (from before Covid-19).” As a person who’s always rewritten any assignment to suit what I felt like writing about, I wrote about...
Not Much for Nostalgia
Dear Hope Nation, A friend of mine asked me to write about what I miss most about the Land of Before. Although not a Biblical scholar by any stretch, during this time I feel like a Jew wandering in the wilderness before being led to Israel. As I try to get through...
Using That Time to Make Changes
Dear Hope Nation, You could fill eternity and more than a couple notebooks outlining my ignorance of life, the universe and everything. For instance, Chemistry, Biology, Philosophy. On each of these I have but bits and pieces of knowledge, often unconnected by any...
Enough is a Feast
Dear Hope Nation, I suspect many of you are tired of hearing me talk about gratitude. The way I go on, expressing gratitude sounds like a panacea, a remedy for everything that ails you. That, of course, is nonsense. Sharing your gratitude with the world will not fix...