IJ readers share short tales of a vacation
After his close friend’s death, a grieving Andrew Sullivan delved into the nature of friendship. While society celebrates romantic love, it sadly give little attention to platonic relationships.
“In almost every regard, friendship delivers what love promises but fails to provide,” he wrote. “The contrast between the two are, in fact, many, and
largely damning to love’s reputation. Where love is swift, for example, friendship is slow. Love comes quickly, as the song has it, but friendship ripens with time. If love is at its most perfect in its infancy, friendship is most treasured as the years go by.”
National Friendship Day occurs on the first Sunday of August, so it seems a good time to celebrate the importance of our beloved friends.
For August, please share with the IJ a six-word story of friendship. Please make it a story with a beginning, middle and end, and not just six adjectives — make us laugh or cry or at the very least feel something.
If you want your story to run in the IJ, please:
• Write “Six-word story” in the subject line
• Send one story. Just one
• Include your full name and Marin town in the body of the email (not in the subject line)
• Write your short story in the body of the email (not in the subject line or in an attachment)
• Use proper punctuation (check the dictionary, please)
• Use sentence style (no capitalization unless a proper name)
• Use correct spelling (check the dictionary, please)
• It does not need to rhyme and ideally shouldn’t
Send your story to lifestyles@marinij.com by Aug. 20 with “Six-Word Story” in the subject line. Then look for your story in the Aug. 31 lifestyles section and online.
Last month we asked IJ readers to share their short tales on their most memorable vacation. Here’s what they
had to say.
Home alone. Family gone camping. Peace.
— Susan Savage, Novato
Cruising Croatia: dreams of Adriatic blue. — Elaine C. Johnson,
Greenbrae
Family of six, 11 countries. Amazing. — Joan Lubamersky,
Larkspur
Road trip. Car sick dog. Staycation. — Steve Gershik,
San Rafael
The majestic white continent of Antarctica.
— Irene Tabet, Mill Valley
Four kids, cross-country in Winnebago. — Claire Miller,
San Rafael
Elephant snapped tent pole. Canvas held. — Mary Beth Wheeler,
Novato
Making memories with many Italian relatives. — Gloria Wohlschlaeger,
Sausalito
Coast-to-coast walk across England. Wainwright’s Way. — Martin Russell,
Mill Valley
Crossing Grand Canyon, hiking four days.
— Kay Edwards, Novato
Family bicycling alongside the Colorado River. — Steven Friedman,
San Rafael
Seeing our son perform in Portugal.
— Sam Fleeger, Marin City
1982, backpacked with my two sons. — Marilyn Bagshaw,
Santa Venetia
Climbing Banner Peak
on burro trip. — Diane Cokely,
San Anselmo
2016 Rio Olympics with fans cheering. — Karen Verrico,
Mill Valley
Paris, Louvre, Notre Dame — pre-fire. Thankful.
— Mark Sachs, San Rafael
Visited beautiful Vietnam 50 years later.
— J.M. Derda, Bel Marin Keys
Missed trail; cold night awaiting dawn.
— Eve Riebe, Mill Valley
Wondrous slot canyon, scorching heat, Gatorade. — Mary, Dave, Jack and Molly Rosenthal,
San Rafael Antarctica camping with seals, penguins, whales.
— Linda Futrell, Fairfax
Cute bear cub; suddenly there’s Mom.
— James Cortese, Novato
Saw the Hagia Sofia at last. — Judith Pomeroy,
Novato
Everest at sunrise, trekking in Nepal. — Mary Quinlan,
San Rafael
Mexico. Yellow-taped hotel room door: “Contaminacion!”
— Doreen Malin, Ross
Auto trip, carbon monoxide, hospital visit. — Roberta Keller,
Mill Valley
Hiked in. Made love. Hiked out. — Roland Crotts,
San Anselmo
Filmed lemurs in Madagascar. Students clapped. — Betty Goerke,
Mill Valley
9/11/01, Galway, Ireland; No TV news. —RubyUnger,
Mill Valley
Sea Ranch 2017 before son died.
— Michael Keran, Tiburon
Galapagos: I saw through Darwin’s eyes. — Cheryl Howard,
San Rafael
A backpacking memory: wet, muddy, cold. — Kathy Barrass,
San Rafael
Key Largo camping inundated by mosquitoes. — David Berger,
San Rafael
Tahiti, beautiful sands, ocean, bad company. — Katherine Ware,
Belvedere
Driving alone from Germany to Greece. — Anabelle Wasserman,
San Rafael
Himalayas embracing Victorian houseboat. Unforgettable Kashmir. — Susan Mines,
Terra Linda
Island bliss, gone amiss: Honeymoon hurricane.
— Dana Tuttle, Mill Valley
Mountain backpacking: silence, lakes, alpenglow, peace. — Ron Skellenger,
Woodacre Sea Ranch 2017 before son died.
— Michael Keran, Tiburon
Beach rental had nightly cockroach raves. — Janice Kohnhorst,
San Rafael
Croatia: Lakes, islands, mopeds, cerulean seas.
— Cristy Pollak, Novato
Lost and found: Daughter on Trenitalia. —LouiseWright,
Stinson Beach
Playful gray whales bumping the Zodiac. — Susan MacKenzie,
Kentfield
Maui 2021, therapy for the soul. — David Leipsic,
San Rafael
Hiking accident; 12 days Pakistani hospital.
— Dawn Steiner, Fairfax
Back to the motherland with dad.
— Caley Guida, Ross
Rafted Grand Canyon rapids. Challenge met.
— Diane Ryken, Novato Crossing Grand Canyon, hiking four days.
— Kay Edwards, Novato
Connection canceled. Slept in Chicago airport. — Marcia Naomi Berger,
San Rafael
Antarctica camping with seals, penguins, whales.
— Linda Futrell, Fairfax
American cyclist catapults into Bangkok canal. — Kristi Beale,
San Rafael
Italian relatives serving feast on patio. — Gloria Bussa Wohlschlaeger,
Sausalito
South Africa, need I say more?
— Helene Jaffe, Greenbrae
Eating maguro sushi on the Shinkansen. — Ted Fehlhaber,
San Anselmo
Venetian flood. Wading out, suitcases overhead.
— Susan Scarth, Novato
Giants baseball. Posey, Crawford, crowds, me. — Ilene Taekman,
San Rafael