{"id":3106,"date":"2025-12-25T05:25:55","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T12:25:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/roseledgebooks.com\/blog\/?p=3106"},"modified":"2026-01-13T05:45:46","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T12:45:46","slug":"so-many-joys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/roseledgebooks.com\/blog\/?p=3106","title":{"rendered":"SO MANY JOYS"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Gifts are of many kinds, nearly always joyful, and have many ways and means of spreading.\u00a0 Here are some examples.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I read Raymond Carver\u2019s poem, \u201cGravy\u201d (in a New Yorker reissue.)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

GRAVY<\/b> by Raymond Carver \u00a0 (NYer, 8\/22\/1988)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

No other word will do. For that\u2019s what it was. Gravy.
<\/strong>Gravy these past ten years.
<\/strong>Alive, sober, working, loving and
<\/strong>being loved by a good woman. Eleven years
<\/strong>ago he was told he had six months to live
<\/strong>at the rate he was going. And he was going
<\/strong>nowhere but down. So he changed his ways
<\/strong>somehow. He quit drinking! And the rest?
<\/strong>After that it was all<\/i> gravy, every minute
<\/strong>of it, up to and including when he was told about,
<\/strong>well, some things that were breaking down and
<\/strong>building up inside his head. \u201cDon\u2019t weep for me,\u201d
<\/strong>he said to his friends. \u201cI\u2019m a lucky man.
<\/strong>I\u2019ve had ten years longer than I or anyone
<\/strong>expected. Pure gravy. And don\u2019t forget it.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

And I read Raymond Carver\u2019s poem, \u201cLate Fragment\u201d (in Wikipedia entry for Raymond Carver)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

LATE FRAGMENT<\/b> by Raymond Carver (Wikipedia and etched on his tombstone)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And did you get what
<\/strong>you wanted from this life, even so?
<\/strong>I did.
<\/strong>And what did you want?
<\/strong>To call myself beloved, to feel myself\u00a0
<\/strong>beloved on the earth.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

And, then, I had an idea, recognized the power of influence at work, and began writing.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I<\/span>NFLUENCE, <\/b>Colleen Coghlan\u2019s best effort, as of 12\/24\/25.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I\u2019m mostly immobile, wheelchair bound, 86 years old, with lots to say.\u00a0
<\/strong>People give me\u00a0 that \u201cyou poor thing\u201d, then say \u201cI\u2019m so sorry,\u201d in\u00a0 that pitiable way.
<\/strong>AARGH!
<\/strong>\u201cDon\u2019t weep for me,\u201d I and Raymond Carver say.\u00a0\u00a0
<\/strong>We both did what needed doing to stay alive and thrive each added day.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

We each saw a doctor and did as told.
<\/strong>He stopped drinking, which was cold.
<\/strong>I had brain surgery, which was bold.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

He had 10 extra years of unlikely lucky days he calls \u201cgravy.\u201d
<\/strong>I\u2019ve had 45 extra years of unlikely days, made lucky by\u00a0 Charlie, friends, and stories to tell.\u00a0 But, more than \u201cgravy\u201d, mine was a main dish gift, an unexpected life, maybe like the best paella ever, filled with this and that, tangy spices, and a surprise or two.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

When asked if he got from this life what he wanted, Raymond Carver said, \u201cI did.\u00a0 [I wanted] to call myself beloved, to feel myself beloved on this earth.\u201d
<\/strong>Me?\u00a0 I just want people to be glad we talked.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Bring on the drizzle, wind, and temps in the 40’s.\u00a0 Life is good with Charlie in Seattle.<\/p>\r\n

\"\"

Charlie with bare arms is “Minnesota tough”;\u00a0 I just want to stay warm.<\/p><\/div>\r\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Merry Christmas to all from Colleen and Charlie<\/h2>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gifts are of many kinds, nearly always joyful, and have many ways and means of spreading.\u00a0 Here are some examples. I read Raymond Carver\u2019s poem, \u201cGravy\u201d (in a New Yorker reissue.) GRAVY by Raymond Carver \u00a0 (NYer, 8\/22\/1988) No other … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/roseledgebooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3106"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/roseledgebooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/roseledgebooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/roseledgebooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/roseledgebooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3106"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/roseledgebooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3117,"href":"http:\/\/roseledgebooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3106\/revisions\/3117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/roseledgebooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/roseledgebooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/roseledgebooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}