Category: Family Stories

God’s Grace

Published on by Ann Marie Bryant5 Comments

As a child, my family met the kindest couple, Reverend and Mrs. Deacon. They were an older couple that just loved people in their church and their community. The husband and wife met my mom after my brother, David, decided to streak through the neighborhood one afternoon while riding a friend’s tractor. Soon after that crazy account, we were faithfully attending Sunday School at the Nazarene Church in Alameda, California.

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Counting Sheep

Published on by Ann Marie Bryant8 Comments

My brothers saw my mother in a whole new light. She had risen to the level of a superstar, in their little eyes, for she had become a kindred spirit; she had become one with the devilish delights of all that was disgusting, and my brothers loved her all the more for her repulsive juvenile inventiveness.

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December Themes

Published on by Ann Marie Bryant4 Comments

This time of the year brings back so many memories of family and love and joy.   There’s just something magical in the air when the days are frosty, and little pleasures can be found in cups of hot chocolate and conversations with those that warm our hearts and shape our lives. Continue reading “December Themes” →

The Storm Drain Adventure

Published on by Ann Marie BryantLeave a comment

If we could find one of the few survivors of this Halloween prank and get them to talk about it, they might say something like;

“It was my first Halloween night without a parent.  Mom had finally agreed to letting me go out with my friend Chris.  We were best friends in 3rd grade.  We were only going a few blocks from home and it was just dark enough that we knew things were supposed to get scary – but it was only Halloween and being really scared was only for the little kids.  The first 4 houses had been really nice and we were walking up Mountain View to the next neighborhood when I heard something strange from the street – only there wasn’t anything in the street.  It was quiet and empty.  “How could that be?” I wondered.

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Adventures in the Ship’s Tanks

Published on by Ann Marie BryantLeave a comment

Every muscle in my body hurt but I still had over an hour on my shift. The past 7 hours of awkwardly squirming and banging my body against the cold steel of a tank not designed for people was taking its toll.

This tank was long and profoundly awkward, ill-designed for a humanoid. It must have stretched 100 or more feet along the side of the ship. One wall was the hull. It curved downward from the ceiling until it hit the narrow floor. There was a wide I-beam hull stiffener, wide enough for a man to lie down in. The design made good use of the triangular shape of the ship’s hull after cutting out nice rectangular rooms and walk ways for the crew. Wave suppressing baffles were everywhere and no where was it tall enough to stand.

This tank was freshly painted with epoxy but not yet fully cured, so the air was saturated with epoxy fumes – deadly toxic.

I was stiff, wet, cold, sore, snot-nosed beneath all my safety gear, nearly deaf, partially blind, stuck inside of wet clothes that I could not take off. So yea – long day at the office.

I had worked my way almost to the tank end when suddenly the lights failed and complete and total darkness swallowed me whole. You have to be kidding me! Continue reading “Adventures in the Ship’s Tanks” →