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Sean Dietrich Articles

The 11-year-old in the house

BY SEAN DIETRICH There is a little girl in my house. She is 11. She is currently playing piano in my office. She is blind, so she plays by feel. She has no idea what she’s doing on the instrument. But she actually sounds pretty good.I do not have kids. I’m not a smart...
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From the files of ‘Dear Sean’

BY SEAN DIETRICH DEAR SEAN:I’m not sure what to do. My teenage son died in an accident three years ago. … A few months ago one of his good friends started hanging out at our house…We’ve become really close. He doesn’t have a very present mother. And I find myself...
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Sean of the South – The Checkout Lane

He was loading my grocery bags. I’ll call him Michael. He was early twenties, wearing an apron. He has Down syndrome.“How are you today?” he said.“Pretty good,” said I.“So am I!” he said. “I’m doing pretty good, too!”I smiled. “How about that.”The cashier was...
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Sean of the South: A ‘Dear Sean’ letter

BY SEAN DIETRICH The email came from someone named Paxton.“Dear Sean,” the message began, “my dog died today and I feel like I can’t go on. I know you‘ve lost a dog before. How do you go on without them?”As it happens, I have lost 12 dogs in my life. Twelve sounds...
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FUN

FUN

Jun 9, 2021

By SEAN DIETRICH DESTIN, Florida —The fireworks crackled above our little beach town. The moon was out. The beaches of my youth looked the way they...

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FUN

River of Heaven

Jun 2, 2021

By SEAN DIETRICH This isn’t my story, it’s his. He talked, I listened. And I tried to quiet the skeptic who lives inside my brain. The tale takes...

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FUN

Andy

May 26, 2021

By SEAN DIETRICH Early evening. My mother-in-law (Mother Mary) and I are watching the Andy Griffith Show. We are whistling along with the opening...

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FUN

YOU

May 20, 2021

By SEAN DIETRICH Out of the seven  billion people in this world, I saw you. It was yesterday. You let a lady cut in line at the supermarket. An...

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FUN

The Georgia Story

Apr 21, 2021

By Sean Dietrich DEAR SEAN: Do you ever write anything not about gooey, syrupy love? Thanks, MARK-IN-ATLANTA DEAR MARK: I have a story for you. It...

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FUN

An Average American Love Story

Apr 15, 2021

By By Sean Dietrich They were good together. That’s what everyone said about them. Their schoolmates said it. Their friends said it. Their parents...

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The Rose

Apr 14, 2021

By Sean Dietrich The house where I was born was trimmed in roses. It was a clapboard home, previously owned by a retired World War II veteran. The...

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FUN

The Dance

Mar 31, 2021

By Sean Dietrich “Will the room please settle down before the dance begins?!” says Gary to the elderly crowd in the nursing home cafeteria. “Simmer...

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FUN

Eggs and Bacon

Mar 25, 2021

By Sean Dietrich I was a young man. Four of us guys walked into an average Florida Panhandle Waffle House before sunrise. We did this every morning...

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