ColumbusGuy

Sorry this got past me, my friend! I love how things are getting back to normal, at least in our world. I hope at some point that Kieran and Co. can go on the offensive. Eager for more!

It's great to see Eric again, and to find him venturing into cyberspace. I had no computer contact at all until my freshman college year of 77-78. Denison gave every student an account and had us take an intro course where I learned how they operated, a bit of their history and BASIC programming. I didn't get my first one until years later after moving into Columbus, around 1989, and it was a gift from one of my first roommates who graduated OSU and gave me his when he moved out. So, I know how Eric feels and am glad to share his journey of discovery. 😸

Oh my dear...how many times have I been there? And from how many loved ones? The sad thing is that we have to grow some barriers or suffer endless hurt when all we want is that one special connection. Each person comes, and things sound right...but if it isn't, how many times can our hearts endure bitter disappointment? As hope springs eternal, how often must we go through the cycle? With one person, a second chance can be given though the relationship won't be the same...but if that chance is tossed away too? It's time to 'raise shields' and move on. From sad experience, those second chances often fail because the trust in a firm foundation is gone and can't be rebuilt as it was before. Perhaps the intent is good, but the first rejection has sown the seeds of self-doubt; what did I do wrong? Why wasn't I good enough? We have to accept that words are as lasting as the air they arise from, and without a mental telepathy helmet, we must rely on hope alone. Life is a risk, love is a gamble...is it worth more potential hurt? If the person has hurt us once already, then I say no. Spin the wheel and hope for the ultimate jackpot. The other defense is to move slowly--develop the friendship first before thinking of jumping to the 'soul-mates' stage. Too many move from meeting to sex and on to love as if it needs to be done in a set time period...who says a timer started when you first met? Build the foundation, let the cement dry and then start building the structure from solid bricks rather than cards on a layer of sand. I'll admit modern technology has one good feature--you can block or remove a contact, or screen your calls on an answering machine like I do.

Happy New Year! If I'm remembering right, the Newsletter mentioned something about thinning out older content--does this mean old stories from inactive authors? I'd hate to see that as Dom Luka was one of the first who attracted me to this site back in 2013, and eventually got me to think of gay fiction as more than quick relief stories like other sites and the novels written by Gordon Merrick I first read in the 80s. Also, there was something about Galleries--is this about our Albums of images? I knoew they take up a lot of space, but mine are all used in my stories and posts, no gratuitous holiday pics or things I don't plan on putting in a chapter some day. I had trouble over this because I was told a good writer doesn't need them--but if an era is unfamiliar to a modern reader, then they are much needed. I don't put in pictures of my characters because those things are best left to the imagination of the reader--but Ancient Greece, and sadly, the 1970s may as well be an alien world to most readers today. You've already made using them harder for us, so I'd hate to see any changes that eliminate them altogether. Truthfully, I have problems with two sites I post at already for not using pictures at all, and I'd hate to see that happen here. I'm loyal to GA because it was my first site for posting stories, and you always get them first. Again, have a great 2019...and remember to take lots of water and some aspirin if you indulged a bit too heartily. :)

Thanks--I'm glad you liked this peek into the younger days of our favorite family. Jerry has been sort of a blank slate except for the excerpt where Jay recalls their own sex talk four years ago...this helps fix him a little more in our minds before he shows up later as a Coast Guard ensign and an actual presence at last. Be safe, my friend!

Vielen Dank! Stay safe for the holiday season, and don't overdo the eggnog on Hew Year's Eve. Now I just have to work on Chapter 57 and see what our older versions are up to.

Thanks Parker! I'm glad it made your holiday a little cheerier. It gave me a little more depth to Jerry for when he shows up to Linda's Graduation soon. He's out in San Francisco with the Coast Guard for another two years, but has some leave time. Should be fun because...

Oh man, this did not go where I thought it would! You set me up to expect a nice, contrite boy eventually getting what he wanted, and gave me a huge laugh at his audacity and inventiveness. It fits, though...you can't lie to God, so another option has to be available, especially if the truth would almost certainly not get you the longed-for present. What will Barry do as he gets older? I'd love to find out, and hope he will only be a prankster and not a thug....

Thanks, my friend...you always point out the importance to my audience of things that are just part of the story in my head...I suppose if I tried to actually do these things consciously I'd be a disaster waiting to happen. This family is as real to me in some ways as my own, and certainly better behaved emotionally. :) I'll confess that Jay almost became the main character when I sat down to write, but after the initial greeting, it just came out as Jerry when I was typing. That made me pause and really think about it, and the whole childhood scene just fell into place. Happy accident? Fate? I'm just glad people found enjoyment in it and got a little present from me at a special time of year. I hope you had a great holiday--I had dinner with my friend Mike and then we did a movie and talked until midnight. Friends are the best gift.

Thanks my wonderful side-kick! Oh, better remove that emphasis.... I couldn't think of a better family to be with than the Beckels at Christmas in front of a crackling fire. I just remembered a few of my favorite mornings to get in the mood, and somehow the boys' childhood came to mind rather than a current one with Mikey. That will happen, never fear. About all we knew of Jerry was him being nice and wanting to help his brother, so why not get a glimpse of how it all came about? Looks like I got away with slipping in a reference to an earlier encounter with the Zane clan....

We'll see more of an adult Jerry before long when he comes home for Linda's graduation...but this was just a way to try to get a 'feel' for him. The only thing I think we had indirectly was him showing Jay how to masturbate... I talked about a bike scene in the main story? Dang, now I have to read the whole thing again to find it! 😸

I'm so glad you enjoyed it...I'd have loved having a brother growing up, but we can't all be lucky, so I had to use my thoughts about how I'd hope one would be. Sisters are fine, but just not the same.

This was my first try at seeing things through Jerry's eyes as he has yet to appear in the main story. I thought this might help me fix him in my mind's eye. All we knew before was that he wanted Jay to develop in his own way, and yet know he was loved. It had to take a lot of that to live through Jay's silly episodes. :)

Thanks Jeffrey! Older sisters I got, cousins I got, but no brother who grew up with me-see the reply to Ivor. Family is mostly held together by the desire to make it happen...not all of us have that now. Once my mother and oldest sister were gone, the remaining two essentially said 'adios'. I'd have thought one of my nephews who's gay would be close, but his life revolves around being in the gay moment and not much else matters. Ah well, I have some good friends who have been at my side for forty years now. :) Frhohe Weihnacht!

As some may have guessed, I'm fond of happy endings, and I hope they seem possible to my readers. Although Jay's family is fictional, the town is real and Miles has a lot of my teen self in his character and emotions. Merry Christmas!

I'm glad you like my boys, Ganymede--I try hard to make them seem realistic. God Jul!

Thanks Ivor! Pure imagination and wishful thinking because I had three older sisters. There is an older brother from dad's first marriage, but I met him only once in the mid 60s. Seems nice from online messages once in a while, but I think he's about 15 years older than me.

“Glædelig Jul, J-Two!” I whispered in my little brother’s ear as the first rays of rosy dawn came through the curtains in our shared bedroom. Linda had the room across the hall, while far and mor were in the one at the front of our house. I could just remember having the room to myself until Jay came home from the hospital at the end of my third summer. I didn’t remember much about when my sister came home, other than her crying and needing to be fed at all hours, but once she began sleepin

Jay is ten in 1969, and is having a good year, but big brother Jerry has problems, especially now that he's moved up to the middle school. Can Christmas work its' magic?

I had to laugh at the image of Jezebel made up as a reindeer--especially since I just watched the Boris Karloff version of 'How The Grinch Stole Christmas' a couple hours earlier. I could just picture someone tying the antler on, then cutting it to fit.... Holy cow--sorry--are trees really that expensive these days?! I don't think we ever paid more than $15 for one when I was a kid. 🎄 🎁 😸

I know how you feel, my dear friend. It's been eleven years since my mom died, and it doesn't take much for me to think of something she'd like and I think about telling her, then I remember I can't. Mercifully that doesn't happen as often now, but it was common in those first years. What got me the most was the surprise--for years she'd been saying her heart would kill her...but it was the lack of dialysis that claimed her as she refused it. She went into the hospital the day before my 49th birthday, and I'd seen her two days earlier and she was talking about baking my cake for my visit on the day. Five days later she was gone, having been in a coma for the last two undergoing palliative care only. I was there that whole time, along with my older sisters and remaining cousins. Some years earlier she'd said that she loved me, and I was sure she knew I was gay because she made it a point to mention that nothing like that could break our bond. Youngest of four kids, the only boy, and the fact I was two months premature with less than 50% chance to finish my first year...I let her call me her 'baby' until she died with some of the usual kid embarrassment--but I'd let her do it forever to have her back one more day.

Wow, we now know how magic tricks work, but the real wonder remains in this wonderful little town and its people. I love thinking of Christmas lights as 'wish lights'...they sure created some in me as a child. This captured the real spirit of giving and love for Christmas without the commercialism we now associate with the current Santa. I guess that can be expected since our image was created in a series of Coca-Cola ads from the 30s. I have several figurines of the Old World versions, and those always took pride of place on my mantel each year, along with my tree and old glass ornaments. All I need now is to dig out my record player and my two albums of music I grew up with--one of carols and the other organ and chimes instrumentals. It just wasn't Christmas without those playing on those mornings, and the 'Sing Along With Mitch' album too. 🎁 🎄

Right, we know the problem, Kippy has a solution...now we just see if it all comes in a neatly wrapped package. Not a guaranteed thing with this quartet, though they get there in the end. 🎄 🎁

Hmm, little clues to be uncovered like presents under the tree or in a Christmas stocking. How do they fit together, what do they mean...intrigue is a great gift for the season at hand and adds to the sense of childish delight and wonder. I won't say what clues I found because that might ruin the search for others coming to read later--aren't I nice? Oh, and naughty too, but still hoping I'm on Santa's Good List! 🎁 🎄

Good grief, Charlie Boone--I'm already feeling the magic and the show hasn't started yet. Skwish in spades, and a whole town full of elves...if there's a reindeer with a red nose hiding in the forest I'm gonna scream. 🎄 🎁