25 Comments

Wow. I'm surely not going to bemoan my Christmas Eve, such as it is. This is beautifully written and very sad. Thank you.

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Haha. Loved it. A peek into the human drama being played out in so many ways. Makes you question what does it all mean? Why are we all here for three score years and ten more or less on this big ball in the sky? Some living a life of leisure and abundance, some in poverty or just constant financial struggle. Some in a mad pursuit of money and fame, some in unselfish service to others . Some consumed with anger and hate, some fighting for a better world where love and kindness reigns supreme. Happy Holidays......and above all, stay well..

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" .... there were times when I was so lonesome I took some comfort there ... " One of the many Paul Simon's perfect "paintings". As for Fascination Playland, what a wonderful reminder. I would always play that game with the ball and the stepped circular targets. Never won diddly squat.

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or is it Skee-Ball?

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Really amazing writing capturing the tough times faced by many people. I am signing up for another year of these wild stories.

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“You make something of yourself, you hear” ….. she’s still telling people she danced with you, and you were such a NICE young man …. Fabulous article……Merry Christmas Lucian and Tracy and Ruby and everyone. ♥️

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Going to the places the rest of us can't go for one reason or another, you bring them to us. You do more than write just one article that strikes us. You write day after day after day on all sorts of topics. They are always--a word we're not supposed to use, along with never--provocative, funny, or nostalgic and sad, with the ever stated or subtext of a necessary angry call to do something to save ourselves and our country. Bravo into the next year...and may it be a better one...but you're up for whatever it is. Thank you.

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Thank you for being so in touch with the human condition. You have such great insight and damn fine ability to “turn a phrase.” Merry, merry. Happy, HEALTHY!

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Have a great Christmas, Lucian. And everybody here as well.

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Edith Wharton would love your stories. Merry Christmas.

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Hope you're having a wonderful Christmas...by all accounts you certainly deserve it. Thanks for reminding us on an almost daily basis of what's important in this life...

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The way you paint with words takes the reader right there, like they were beamed there and seeing it through your eyes. Love your articles!

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Christmas Eve, when the bachelors pulled Officer of the Day...

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FYI: My 2nd Lt husband had Officer of the Day duty the first Christmas Eve we were together. There were only 3 Lieutenants on the post, and it was his turn, married or not.

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Merry Christmas, Mr. Truscott.

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Thank you for sharing.

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Wonderful writing, Lucian. The sense of melancholy pervades, tinged with Christmas spirit. Reads like a scene from HBO's excellent series, The Deuce.

Merry Christmas, all!

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I think that I actually remember reading this piece when it came out. it touched a bit of a nerve (a not unpleasant one), since I knew a lot of the same girls, although not as a journalist (tactful, huh?). they were mostly really nice (if sad and inclined to inspire a lot of worry on my part ). a few of them became friends and, for some reason, would call and suggest movie dates. I sometimes liked to tell myself things like "well, I don't judge them" or "after all, I'm a nice enough guy," but now, from a long perspective that doesn't require me to broadcast my own possibly nonexistent virtues, I really think they were just lonely and liked to connect occasionally with guys on a non-professional level.

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