Last year, as we were emerging from the lockdown, I was inspired to attempt a top-down cleaning of my home. Not just the junk that had accumulated over the dark days of pandemic, but also all the baggage I'd been dragging around with me all these years, as I moved from place to place (Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Northern California, Colorado, and various parts of Southern California). My good intentions lasted a while, long enough for me to dispose of a dozen of old moving boxes. But total victory seems more elusive now than ever, and the house, sadly, remains in a state of disarray.

In the process, though, I uncovered a trove of old correspondence and papers, some dated all the way back to my early college days, shortly after my arrival in America. It was as if a genie had been let out of the bottle---box---to carry me back in time, to that innocent era. I was shocked at how fast the memories all came rushing back, and what strong emotions they stirred up in me. It struck me all over again how deep of an effect the events and people from those early years had had on me, and I realized it was time I wrote down the true stories about them.

The writing came in bits and pieces as the memories reasserted themselves in my mind; it eventually took the form of stand-alone short essays, what's frequently described as narrative nonfiction.

One of the essays, titled Three Men, Two Wars, and a Hobo Kid, was recently published by the online edition of the international literary journal Consequence. It is about my working "adventures" in Central Ohio in the summer of 1976, following my sophomore year in college. I'm proud and happy to share it with you here. It's a short, easy summer read (3000 words), and if I'm lucky it may bring you a chuckle or two.

Click on the picture below to open the publication in a new tab. Then come along with me on a fun ride around Tuscarawas County, Ohio, circa 1970's. Enjoy!


 
 
 

C.L. Hoang
Amazon Page: https://amzn.to/3irSIRO
 


C.L. Hoang
Amazon Page: https://amzn.to/2XdywMr
 


C.L. Hoang
Amazon Page: https://amzn.to/39Ml0Cn