Psst,dad, wake up... What's up, Charlie? Before Claire comes back in; we need to talk. Uh, Charles, I haven't been married for thirty years without figuring out that hearing "we need to talk" actually means "you need to listen", so I guess there's no going back to sleep now. Say your piece. Are you going to make an honest woman out of Claire Bear or what? (Sitting straight up in bed) Don't you think that…

Dad here; I've been dreading this post like getting a root canal for some time now. Not because anything bad has happened, but because it involves me coming out of my own crate. We have all heard the terms "introvert" and "extrovert", but I recently heard the term "ambivert". As I understand it, an ambivert is a person that shows the world the face of an outgoing entertainer, but is also has the tendency to…

Dad here; yesterday I was talking to one of my oldest and wisest friends... I don't mean old, as in "ready for the home and having a problem with incontinence" old, although after some of the barbs she threw my way, I shouldn't feel the the responsibility to clear that up. I should let you go on thinking that she is doddering around in a housedress clutching her walker with the tennis balls on the…

This excerpt is from a post back in 2016; now, before you think the Charles has gotten lazy, just bear with me for a minute. How could they see anything but the shadows if they were never allowed to move their heads?”  ― Plato, The Allegory of the Cave An old friend of dad’s found my story last night, and like most, her initial response was, “how sad!”. Then she dug farther into the posts…

It's been raining at the Casa del Whackos for the last two days; I have had no inclination to go outside and frolic, and dad has been putting an inordinate amount of time into finishing the book, so that has left me with plenty of opportunity to reflect on some of our recent adventures. Dad and I went to New Mexico back in December, "just because", as sometimes we need to just stop, drop and…

Dad here; where is "home"? Not the brick and mortar building that the mortgage company no doubt owns more of than you do anyway, but that place where you can reconnect and recharge? Is it in a few minutes of stillness and solitude in the evening? Or in boisterous community around a kitchen table? Is it in walking or running or biking through streets or through hills? Is it in listening to music? Or, better…

Many questions have been asked about the origins of the Claire Bear; thus us exactly why dad and I started the blog at thecharliebravostory.com as a supplement to the Facebook page. Beteeen the facts that my story has so many twists and turns and also that FB has a tendency to move posts around willy-nilly, we decided we needed a place where we could keep the posts in chronological order. This was so if some…