Matt Ward

“A Celebration of Life” by Matt Ward

Submitted to Contest #255

Contains the sadness of death of a loved one. A Celebration of Life A Celebration of Life. That’s what they call it nowadays. Funeral service, Memorial, Wake, Requiem Mass, there’s lots of names for it. But, for the widow or widower who truly loved the spouse, they all mean the same thing . . . separation, loneliness, despair.          Such was the case for Mrs. Anna Kestler. She and Samuel had been married sixty years. Two daughters and six grandchildren had come from this union. It had been a b...

5 likes 1 comment 1

Read story

“Ain't Genealogy Great” by Matt Ward

Submitted to Contest #252

Ain’t Genealogy Great!(Based on a true story) Walter Hanson was from East Tennessee. He was a proud southern gentleman. Maybe not so proud of the south’s slavery history, but still loyal to the memory of his ancestors. Proud that his great-great-grandfather had fought in the Civil War for the South. Proud of the tombstone in the local cemetery that, while not marking the grave of his progenitor, it did commemorate the man’s loyalty to the south with the inscription, “Jacob L. Arbeiter, Cpl. CSA, 1834 – 1865.” Proud to be the great-great gran...

11 likes 0 comments 0

Read story

“The Last Picnic” by Matt Ward

Submitted to Contest #230

The Last Picnic            It was a beautiful day in early September. The kind of day his late father called a Glory Day, the requirements of which were a deep blue sky and, if there were any clouds at all, they had to be the soft, very white, billowy type. And the temperature neither too hot, nor too cool. Perfect picnic weather.            And a picnic was...

6 likes 2 comments 2

Read story

“Flowers for a Place” by Matt Ward

Submitted to Contest #212

Flowers for a Place To the current residents Upstairs Apartment 302 Locust St. Mt. Pleasant, Tennessee No doubt you wonder why a stranger has sent you flowers. It is, in this instance, not because of who you are, but because of where you are― a modest little upstairs apartment that has much signifi...

6 likes 0 comments 0

Read story

“Bully Teacher, Bully Kid” by Matt Ward

Submitted to Contest #140

Bully Teacher, Bully Kid (Based on a true story) I am from Albuquerque, New Mexico and, yes, I’m Mexican American, born here but of Hispanic parents. But the story I’m about to tell you happened in a small town in California.  I was visiting my grandmother during the summer vacation from school.  It was 1989, I was 14 years old. ...

9 likes 3 comments 3

Read story

“The Last Picnic” by Matt Ward

Submitted to Contest #138

The Last Picnic            It was a beautiful day in early September, the kind of day his late father called a Glory Day, the requirements of which were a deep blue sky, if there were any clouds at all they had to be the soft, very white, billowy type, and the temperature neither too hot, nor too cool. Perfec...

13 likes 5 comments 5

Read story

“Ain't Genealogy Great!” by Matt Ward

Submitted to Contest #124

Ain’t Genealogy Great! (Based on a true story) Walter Hanson was from East Tennessee. He was a proud southern gentleman. Maybe not so proud of the south’s slavery history, but still loyal to the memory of his ancestors. Proud that his great-great-grandfather had fought in the Civi...

9 likes 0 comments 0

Read story

“Ain't Genealogy Great!” by Matt Ward

Submitted to Contest #107

Ain’t Genealogy Great! (Based on a true story) Walter Hanson was from East Tennessee. He was a proud southern gentleman. Maybe not so proud of the south’s slavery history, but still loyal to the memory of his ancestors. Proud that his great-great-grandfather had fought in the Civil War...

16 likes 1 comment 1

Read story

“Ain't Genealogy Great!” by Matt Ward

Ain’t Genealogy Great! Walter Hanson was from East Tennessee. He was a proud southern gentleman. Maybe not so proud of the south’s slavery history, but still loyal to the memory of his ancestors. Proud that his great-great-grandfather had fought in the Civil War for the South. Proud of the tombstone in the local cemetery that, while...

3 likes 0 comments 0

Read story

“Forsake Not the Entertainment of Strangers” by Matt Ward

Submitted to Contest #96

Forsake Not the Entertainment of Strangers (A True Story) The year was 1981. My wife, Pat, and I had just checked out the vacant one-bedroom apartment on the back of our house, making sure that it was clean and ready to advertise for the next tenant. Little did we know that it was about to become a guest room with...

16 likes 0 comments 0

Read story

“What I Wish I Had Said” by Matt Ward

Submitted to Contest #76

The following story is a true story. It probably will be rejected as non-complaint because it is reversing the #5 proposal. I wrote about what I said to a person as a child, which was too little; and then what I am always thinking I should have said now that I am an adult of nearly 78 years. Still, it is cathartic for me to express this if only one person reads it. What I ...

14 likes 2 comments 2

Read story