James Kullander

Writing and Inspiration

james kullander

Wisdom Is Not in the Newspaper

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Originally published in Lion’s Roar (formerly Shambhala Sun magazine), November, 2011
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One bright summer day many years ago, I was sitting on the hood of a neighbor’s Plymouth station wagon reading the New York Times. My parents didn’t get the Times, so occasionally I wandered through the woods to our neighbor’s house and read theirs. I went there to visit with my friend, too, a girl my age. Perhaps by reading the newspaper in front of her I would impress her with my worldliness.

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Love’s Legacy Lost

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Originally published in Lion’s Roar (formerly Shambhala Sun magazine), September 2009 and in Mindful, August 2010
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This September will be the first anniversary of my father’s death. It’s not just that I miss him. I do. But I am also mourning something else.

Before my father died, I considered whatever he was planning to will to me, my mother, and my three brothers a gift—nothing more and nothing less. But in my father’s final hours, I realized it was more than a gift. For him it was the equivalent of his love for his family.

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My Marital Status

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Originally published in The Sun magazine, December 2007
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Six years after the event, I still cannot say for sure whether I am divorced or widowed. The question comes up whenever I am filling out a form that wants to know my marital status. All the other questions I can answer in seconds, but this one — which asks that I check single, married, separated, divorced, or widowed — always stumps me. I’ll pause there at the dentist’s office, insurance company, or bank, and, while the clock ticks and other people’s children scamper at my feet, I’ll reflect on what it really means to be married.

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