Richard Radtke

Did I Miss Something?

Okay I am fifty now, I just more or less realized that this morning. I would swear when I went to bed yesterday I was only thirty five. But no, looking in the mirror I see a face I kind of recognize, the only problem is that the face looking back at me has a few more lines and wrinkles than I remember, this face does not have the fresh smooth skinned face of youth that is mine. There are wrinkles that creep around the eyes, and the... (posted by Richard 36 days 4 hours ago.)

Will the Flowers Grow?

Yesterday was the funeral, and the church it was held in was overflowing. People came from all over, many who had not known him, many who had, and many who felt they did. Kenneth was only fourteen and he made a decision to end his life, a decision that once done, cannot be undone. It was a tragic loss, pointless and horrifying, but it was his decision, a bad one. Bad because he was so young, bad because no one now will ever know... (posted by Richard 36 days 20 hours ago.)

It Is Raining Out Today

Today there is a funeral in one of the communities we serve as a newspaper publisher. It will be a sad affair, and a needless one. Needless, in the respect that it is the funeral of a 14 yr old young man who committed suicide because he was bullied at school and online. The young man even began to receive death threats via text on his phone. Why did this happen? and will there ever be any redress? Who knows, currently law... (posted by Richard 37 days 23 hours ago.)

The Masters Hand

The Winter mural is done, set aside, yes, it is put away. Now there upon the easel sits a new, clean canvas awaiting his hand. Soon, upon its white empty space into its depths he will stare, ponder, and prepare before he begins another work, another masterpiece, one more of those that he has done a thousand times a thousand before, but yet, in the end there have never been any two the same. Each one has been... (posted by Richard 1 year 28 days ago.)

Destination

The day had grown long, and the shadows that lay upon the ground had grown long with it. One reaching into the other, until the somber, covering coat of twilight was upon the land. In the distance, beyond the fields filled with corn that slowly rustled in the gentle wind that played within them, the glow of lights twinkled on the highway as cars and trucks scurried on, each one going somewhere in a rush. Perhaps... (posted by Richard 1 year 95 days ago.)

A Look Within...

He had grown old these last few years, time which up to now had been kind to him, had suddenly turned its back on him. The wrinkles that had come with age were still there, but that was to be expected, he was seventy six now. But suddenly it seemed he did not quite stand as tall, he was a little bent now, the fire that had been in his eyes just a few months ago was gone. Where last summer he worked in his... (posted by Richard 1 year 251 days ago.)