Picasso, like the artist

“He looks so much like you!” Or some variety, was something I’ve always heard. I first remember the comparison to my grandfather when I was very young but evidently it went back as far as when I was an infant according to my grandma. I was about 11. New Year’s Eve. The attendees were my parents, my grandparents, and aunts and uncles I hadn’t seen since I was “this big”. A lot of alcohol. I don’t remember fearing anything more than the big, gaudy bottle of liquor that always found its way to family gatherings. I’d always get an uneasy feeling, with my grandfather as well as any other adult in my life when they had too much to drink, like it was someone who was so unfamiliar and untrustworthy to me. The smell of their breath disgusted me, the way they talked was like it’s own language that I didn’t speak, and they moved as if performing a poorly choreographed ballet. I’d seek out my grandma for comfort, since she was, much to her dismay, the designated sober. Then the family scrapbook wo...

For Billy Joel Hey Marty, How’s your first month of college on the west coast? I always knew you were meant for bigger things than this town could provide. We just couldn’t keep ya down huh? I’m just teasing, brother, Joanna and I miss the heck out of you. I know how Pa felt about you leaving, especially so far away, but if he were still here I just know he’d see the brilliant person I do. My job at the steel factory is going ok, though I’m a little shaken up. It wasn’t long after you left that two others not too far from here had a big wave of layoffs, not mine though, we’re being assured we’re safe, and they’re even thinking about expanding, so maybe the others who lost their job could get new ones, so there’s a little bright side. Hey, don’t forget our birthday is in a couple weeks and I’m expecting a gift with all that computer science grant money you got, HA! Well, I’ll keep it short, I know a big shot like you don’t have a lot of time for your small minded brother in his small mi...

I was excited for my interview at Lance’s Electronics, it was for a temporary position in their office, just for over the Summer. It had been set up by my school counselor a week before school ended and I really wanted to commit myself to it and see it through. I arrived at the building, with my small, but, very professionally formatted, portfolio in hand. I got to the waiting room where all the other prospective copy machine operators and coffee fetchers were, and quickly realized I was way overdressed. While getting looks from the polo shirts and unbuttoned collars, I tried to hide my embarrassment and quickly went to find somewhere to sit. I looked around and saw two girls waving at me. Thankfully it wasn’t in the way that two popular girls would condescendingly “befriend” the shy kid at lunch. No, I knew them. Sitting on the outermost chair, Caroline, and sitting in the middle seat, Petra. Both were friends I had met in Robotics club my sophomore year. Caroline often walked the lin...