The last line deserves to be cross stitched into an heirloom pillow.
Beautiful journey for the spirit.
Strange how somewhat tragic stories like this can still make me feel envious of the people who lived them. The leaps taken. The trials by fire. So much bravery in this family. And so much forgiveness.
Dec 29, 2023·edited Dec 29, 2023Liked by Ben Wakeman
Ben! That last line is GOLD. The whole piece is so thoughtful, compelling, heartbreaking, and loving, and I absolutely loved reading it. It was a visual treat. I felt like I was in the dirt and hay of the barn with them, experiencing each painful lesson that was accepted with as much grace as anyone could muster in such a situation.
Thank you so much, Troy. It was such a wonderful prompt to write from and there was some definite overlap from my childhood. We had two ponies that kept running away. One of them bit me on the shoulder. I hope I did the prompter's story justice.
In what the late Saddam Hussein once dubbed “the great Satan,” roughly two-thirds of the United States enlisted military corps is white . . .
The fat, bulbous, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin once confirmed in a 93-2 vote of the U.S. Senate, immediately embarked on a whirlwind media tour of duty, telling the pseudo-secular sycophants in the state-controlled tabloid press and state-controlled television talk show circuit about how the U.S. Army is full of bad racist white men.
Senior Defense Department leaders celebrating yet another Pride Month at the Pentagon sounding the alarm about the rising number of state laws they say target the LGBTQ+ community, warned the trend is hurting the feelings of the armed forces . . . “LGBTQ plus and other diverse communities are under attack, just because they are different. Hate for hate’s sake,” said Gil Cisneros, the Pentagon’s undersecretary for personnel and readiness, who also serves as DoD’s chief diversity and inclusion officer.
And now the U.S. Army is doing ads begging for more young white males?
What happened?
Even with a full-on declaration of war from Congress, and even if Gavin Newsome could be cheated into the Oval Office by ZOG somehow, while Globohomo diversity brigades go door-to-door looking to impress American children into military service, they will be met with armed, well-trained opposition, the invasion at the Southern border is going full tilt, and the drugs are flowing in like never before . . .
With the borders of Europe and the USA wide open, civil warfare within the USA, Britain, and most of Europe is a certainty if foreign wars are initiated. Nobody is going to fight a war for Biden, he is dumber than Bush . . . Nobody is going to fight a war for that kikesucking Zionist ass-whore Nikki Haley, and I mean nobody.
Get ready for it . . . the fat old devil worshipping fags on Capitol Hill, on Wall Street, in Whitehall, and in Brussels are in no shape to fight a war themselves, and most Americans are armed to the teeth with their own guns . . . NATO hates heterosexual white men . . . they said so themselves . . .
Lovely, low-key, sentimental story with a smooth narrative. Some experience ends up showing you what you should not pursue, so in that sense is as important as successful ones.
I had a similar experience twice in my life. The first was when I moved to the States for a year, to do research at Harvard. I absolutely loved it but my wife was miserable, having a one-year-old son needing constant attention and no friends or relatives to help. She warned me not to do this again on our return. A few years later, I took a job in Europe and this time we stayed 25 years, so more successful, you could say. One does not know before you try it. A well-written small gem...
Ben, this is a beautiful humanization of parents and the understanding we gain as we move through life and realize what they were searching for while we were still too young to fully understand that longing.
Ben! You're such a master storyteller. I'm not going to be the first to say this, but that last line—pure gold. I was with this narrator from start to finish, both him as the older narrator and as the younger character.
Of so many favorite passages, I'll point to the "wide-open place large enough to accommodate the sprawling reach of his romantic ideals that, since my birth, had been folded back on themselves to fit into an accounting ledger on a desk in a ten-by-ten office with no window on the twenty-sixth floor of a concrete tower." Brilliant!
Ben, thanks for this personal look at the impacts of taking a huge leap. In 1993 my wife and I and our 2 sons (5&8) left Cincinnati and moved to Germany for my work. So many unknowns. We did not speak the language or have a good grasp of the culture. I knew little of the business area I was entering. My sons were leaving their friends. We would be far from family. There was no internet or FaceTime or Zoom to keep us connected.
And yet we thought the move would be good for our kids to see another “world” was outside Cincinnati. The first months were very hard. I was traveling almost immediately for work. Learning to read ingredient statement on foods made cooking a true experience. My oldest struggled with the language. Doctors were an experience. I had kidney stones, my sons got Lyme disease, pneumonia, worms. My wife carried her stress with her every day. The kids didn’t come home on the bus during a snow storm. They were stranded 2 towns over. No one knew where they were (no cell phones then). The group of 8 kids walked from the bus to the local train station and hopped aboard. They had no money. They changed trains and got off in our village and walked home the rest of the way. Scary, and yet they learned resiliency in the process.
There were kids from around the world at the international school. Shared experiences helped kids and their moms. We took trips around Europe together. 5 years later my kids had been to 20 countries and they remember the good. And laugh about the bad. Their view of the world had forever been changed.
Ben, thanks for reminding me of that time. Look forward to reading more from you!
Wow, thanks for sharing your experience. I never took such a big gamble in raising my kids as the parent's do in this story but I always wanted to. I'm sure your kids will have a lifetime of memories and the experience will shape them in ways you cannot predict. Thanks for reading.
It's wonderful to see how the narrator's perspective changes with age, the insurmountable challenge as important in hindsight as success. Well done, Ben!
There are several sentences I could add here, but this is an incredible description that many have tried to write about , but never coming close to this poignant passage .
“…was nothing compared to my fear of the raw fierce thing that whirled recklessly in the space between my parents like a tornado, sudden and unpredictable in its potential for devastation.”
As a reader, I would like to add my thanks for creating this idea and getting many on board to join in.
I think I feel comfortable enough to speak for all who are reaping the benefits of your literary production.
We have indeed walked miles in someone else’s shoes.
Wow, Ben, this is really, very special. I imagine it must feel that way and tenfold for whomever submitted their prompt. I feel like I just watched a whole movie. I’m so enjoying making my way through these stories. Big thanks, friend 🙏
Thank you for your constant encouragement Chloe. It means so much to me. Given the unanticipated therapeutic benefits of this exercise I think you and David should sign up for the next one! I feel certain everyone’s life will have at least one death, and a few birds you can write about!
What a closing line, Ben! I could almost be led to believe this story was yours, such is how real it feels (though I know you're not in your 60s 😉)
This is filled with a warm and reflective nostalgia, and a deep reverence for the steps the parents took in making that move. Bravo for capturing that. I'm sure the prompt writer will feel warmed by your words.
It was really a very lucky prompt for me in terms of overlap with my life. My earliest memories were on a farm and my parents had no business being farmers. We had two ponies that ran away numerous times. Chickens froze in their coops one winter. thanks for reading Nathan. I always appreciate your feedback.
What a great story! It was fascinating to me the way you traced the thread of living the experience as a child and looking back on the experience as an adult with kids of his own :) "I am a writer because my father once bought me a horse that I would never be able to ride." Glad to have found your newsletter! I write Moments, sharing photography + behind-the-lens stories about moments of connection in nature & everyday life. I hope you'll visit me there, too!
The last line deserves to be cross stitched into an heirloom pillow.
Beautiful journey for the spirit.
Strange how somewhat tragic stories like this can still make me feel envious of the people who lived them. The leaps taken. The trials by fire. So much bravery in this family. And so much forgiveness.
Thanks Meg.❤️
Ben! That last line is GOLD. The whole piece is so thoughtful, compelling, heartbreaking, and loving, and I absolutely loved reading it. It was a visual treat. I felt like I was in the dirt and hay of the barn with them, experiencing each painful lesson that was accepted with as much grace as anyone could muster in such a situation.
Thank you so much, Troy. It was such a wonderful prompt to write from and there was some definite overlap from my childhood. We had two ponies that kept running away. One of them bit me on the shoulder. I hope I did the prompter's story justice.
From my perspective, you nailed it. I hope the prompter agrees!
Great ending!
I can say from personal experience that it can take a lot of sheer will to go off in another direction from the one that had been laid out for you.
In what the late Saddam Hussein once dubbed “the great Satan,” roughly two-thirds of the United States enlisted military corps is white . . .
The fat, bulbous, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin once confirmed in a 93-2 vote of the U.S. Senate, immediately embarked on a whirlwind media tour of duty, telling the pseudo-secular sycophants in the state-controlled tabloid press and state-controlled television talk show circuit about how the U.S. Army is full of bad racist white men.
Senior Defense Department leaders celebrating yet another Pride Month at the Pentagon sounding the alarm about the rising number of state laws they say target the LGBTQ+ community, warned the trend is hurting the feelings of the armed forces . . . “LGBTQ plus and other diverse communities are under attack, just because they are different. Hate for hate’s sake,” said Gil Cisneros, the Pentagon’s undersecretary for personnel and readiness, who also serves as DoD’s chief diversity and inclusion officer.
And now the U.S. Army is doing ads begging for more young white males?
What happened?
Even with a full-on declaration of war from Congress, and even if Gavin Newsome could be cheated into the Oval Office by ZOG somehow, while Globohomo diversity brigades go door-to-door looking to impress American children into military service, they will be met with armed, well-trained opposition, the invasion at the Southern border is going full tilt, and the drugs are flowing in like never before . . .
With the borders of Europe and the USA wide open, civil warfare within the USA, Britain, and most of Europe is a certainty if foreign wars are initiated. Nobody is going to fight a war for Biden, he is dumber than Bush . . . Nobody is going to fight a war for that kikesucking Zionist ass-whore Nikki Haley, and I mean nobody.
Get ready for it . . . the fat old devil worshipping fags on Capitol Hill, on Wall Street, in Whitehall, and in Brussels are in no shape to fight a war themselves, and most Americans are armed to the teeth with their own guns . . . NATO hates heterosexual white men . . . they said so themselves . . .
https://cwspangle.substack.com/i/138320669/nato-an-anti-white-and-anti-family-institution
Lovely, low-key, sentimental story with a smooth narrative. Some experience ends up showing you what you should not pursue, so in that sense is as important as successful ones.
I had a similar experience twice in my life. The first was when I moved to the States for a year, to do research at Harvard. I absolutely loved it but my wife was miserable, having a one-year-old son needing constant attention and no friends or relatives to help. She warned me not to do this again on our return. A few years later, I took a job in Europe and this time we stayed 25 years, so more successful, you could say. One does not know before you try it. A well-written small gem...
Thanks so much, Levent!
Ben, this is a beautiful humanization of parents and the understanding we gain as we move through life and realize what they were searching for while we were still too young to fully understand that longing.
Thank you Petra!
astonishing.. Steinback level astonishing..
Wow, that's very kind. Thank you for reading, Thomas.
Ben! You're such a master storyteller. I'm not going to be the first to say this, but that last line—pure gold. I was with this narrator from start to finish, both him as the older narrator and as the younger character.
Of so many favorite passages, I'll point to the "wide-open place large enough to accommodate the sprawling reach of his romantic ideals that, since my birth, had been folded back on themselves to fit into an accounting ledger on a desk in a ten-by-ten office with no window on the twenty-sixth floor of a concrete tower." Brilliant!
Aw, thank you so much Holly. I’m so glad the story resonated with you.
The disappointments... Beautiful story, Ben.
Thank you Jo!
Ben, thanks for this personal look at the impacts of taking a huge leap. In 1993 my wife and I and our 2 sons (5&8) left Cincinnati and moved to Germany for my work. So many unknowns. We did not speak the language or have a good grasp of the culture. I knew little of the business area I was entering. My sons were leaving their friends. We would be far from family. There was no internet or FaceTime or Zoom to keep us connected.
And yet we thought the move would be good for our kids to see another “world” was outside Cincinnati. The first months were very hard. I was traveling almost immediately for work. Learning to read ingredient statement on foods made cooking a true experience. My oldest struggled with the language. Doctors were an experience. I had kidney stones, my sons got Lyme disease, pneumonia, worms. My wife carried her stress with her every day. The kids didn’t come home on the bus during a snow storm. They were stranded 2 towns over. No one knew where they were (no cell phones then). The group of 8 kids walked from the bus to the local train station and hopped aboard. They had no money. They changed trains and got off in our village and walked home the rest of the way. Scary, and yet they learned resiliency in the process.
There were kids from around the world at the international school. Shared experiences helped kids and their moms. We took trips around Europe together. 5 years later my kids had been to 20 countries and they remember the good. And laugh about the bad. Their view of the world had forever been changed.
Ben, thanks for reminding me of that time. Look forward to reading more from you!
Wow, thanks for sharing your experience. I never took such a big gamble in raising my kids as the parent's do in this story but I always wanted to. I'm sure your kids will have a lifetime of memories and the experience will shape them in ways you cannot predict. Thanks for reading.
I’m in process of digitizing all our photographs and making videos for them.
Big risks can bring big benefits. With a lot of hard work, and LUCK!
It's wonderful to see how the narrator's perspective changes with age, the insurmountable challenge as important in hindsight as success. Well done, Ben!
Thanks, Troy!
Great story.
There are several sentences I could add here, but this is an incredible description that many have tried to write about , but never coming close to this poignant passage .
“…was nothing compared to my fear of the raw fierce thing that whirled recklessly in the space between my parents like a tornado, sudden and unpredictable in its potential for devastation.”
As a reader, I would like to add my thanks for creating this idea and getting many on board to join in.
I think I feel comfortable enough to speak for all who are reaping the benefits of your literary production.
We have indeed walked miles in someone else’s shoes.
And what a journey it’s been.
Thanks so much for your kind words and for being here, Lor.
Wow, Ben, this is really, very special. I imagine it must feel that way and tenfold for whomever submitted their prompt. I feel like I just watched a whole movie. I’m so enjoying making my way through these stories. Big thanks, friend 🙏
Thank you for your constant encouragement Chloe. It means so much to me. Given the unanticipated therapeutic benefits of this exercise I think you and David should sign up for the next one! I feel certain everyone’s life will have at least one death, and a few birds you can write about!
I’ve already promised Adam I’ll sign up for round two! It’s been wonderful to see everyone writing out of their typical zones, really inspiring.
Yea!!! 🎉❤️
What a closing line, Ben! I could almost be led to believe this story was yours, such is how real it feels (though I know you're not in your 60s 😉)
This is filled with a warm and reflective nostalgia, and a deep reverence for the steps the parents took in making that move. Bravo for capturing that. I'm sure the prompt writer will feel warmed by your words.
It was really a very lucky prompt for me in terms of overlap with my life. My earliest memories were on a farm and my parents had no business being farmers. We had two ponies that ran away numerous times. Chickens froze in their coops one winter. thanks for reading Nathan. I always appreciate your feedback.
Wow, that's amazing.
Great vibe and beautiful storytelling voice. And ya, that last line. Jeez.
Thank you, Jon, I appreciate that. And thank you for participating in the project.
What a great story! It was fascinating to me the way you traced the thread of living the experience as a child and looking back on the experience as an adult with kids of his own :) "I am a writer because my father once bought me a horse that I would never be able to ride." Glad to have found your newsletter! I write Moments, sharing photography + behind-the-lens stories about moments of connection in nature & everyday life. I hope you'll visit me there, too!
Thanks for reading and subscribing, Sydney. I’m glad you enjoyed the story. Your work sounds interesting. I will definitely check it out!
A great story, Ben! I’m trying to find time to read from your list!