Dan and His Tiny Love Story – New York Times (November 27, 2023)

Most Sundays, I drive down to Mr. Mike’s convenience store here in York, Maine for the New York Times.  As a kid in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, my parents subscribed to the Times. Sunday mornings after services at the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, I spread the sports section out on the floor and devoured the stories and stats.

Currently, Hannah and I take all week to the read the voluminous Sunday Times.  As a favorite of ours, the Styles Section includes the “Modern Love” essay and the “Tiny Love Stories.”  While the “Modern Love” essay is often 800+ words, the “Tiny Love Story” has a rigid 100 word limit.

As I often do, I love the stories I write on hiking and life for my over60hiker blog that I post each Saturday as well as the freewrites for KGUA radio each Monday.  Writing is a kick for me!

Loving my 279-word piece about our grandson Brooks that I recently posted (click here for that posting or refer to it at the bottom of this page), I figure the Times readers would love it, too.

Now here’s my challenge!  If I want to submit that piece as a “Tiny Love Story,” I have to cut the original piece down to at most 100 words.  With the help of my KGUA writing buddies David Stoloff and Mitch Sakofs as well as Hannah, I submitted the following 97 words to the Times on November 20, 2023. 

Taking you behind the curtain to see the editing choices that as an author and blogger I make, I want you to especially notice the change I made to the third sentence from the end.  It’s so cool!

Playing number bingo with our kindergarten grandson, I ask: “Do you know your dad’s favorite number?” He shakes his head no. It’s 23… for Michael Jordan. His dad asks me: What’s your favorite number? Sitting next to our grandson, I say… five. Know why? Immediately our grandson makes the connection.. he is five. “When you’re six, I will have a new favorite number.” Correctly he guesses six. How old are you, Poppa? It has a 5 in it.  25? When he gets to 75, I say… “Bingo.” He then whispers, “My favorite number is 75.” I melt.

I await with bated breath for the email that lets me know that the Times would be thrilled to publish this “Tiny Love Story.”  You’ll be the first to know.

Dan, His Grandson Brooks, and Bingo (originally posted on November 13, 2023)

Most Thursdays Hannah and I drive up the Maine Turnpike to Scarborough, 40 minutes north of our home in York, to spend the afternoon with our grandkids, Brooks (5) and his identical twin sisters, Reese and Charlotte (3).  After the kids jump on their backyard trampoline, we play bingo.

The bingo cards have different games with animals on one side, numbers on the other side; letters on another card.  As we start with numbers, I see the #23 and ask Brooks, Do you know what your dad’s favorite number is? 

Brooks asks his dad.  Will pauses, but I wonder aloud, Is it 23 because of Michael Jordan?  He smiles in recognition of his youthful passion for the Chicago Bulls star.

Will then asks me, What is your favorite number?  First, I am surprised when anyone asks me a question, but I regain my balance and think.  Sitting next to Brooks who is looking at me, I say my favorite number is five.  I ask him do you know why?  He makes the immediate connection that he is five.

I then say, When you are six, I will have a new favorite number.  And Brooks correctly guesses six.  I add, When you are seven, it will be seven.

Brooks and I have a moment.

We begin number bingo.  But soon he asks me, How old are you? 

I’m surprised, but say, It has a 5 in it.  He guesses 25.  I say it’s a little more than that.  We work our way to 35, then 45, 55, eventually to 75, when I say, You got it!

He then turns to me and whispers, My favorite number is 75.

I melt.