Tag Archives: family

Isolation 2

Posted on April 12, 2020 by Callen Harty

When I was a boy I could easily spend hours in my bedroom by myself, playing games with my toy cars. I wouldn’t race them on orange tracks with loop de loops or push them across the floor as fast … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged alone, ambulance, boy, bus, change, child, connection, depression, domestic violence, dump truck, dying, family, Firat, friends, games, Hot Wheels, hug, human, introvert, isolation, lonely, love, lovers, Matchbox cars, Mercedes, nature, people, pickup truck, police car, public speaking, recession, safer-at-home, shy, small talk, social constructs, social contact, social distancing, social settings, socially awkward, society, stories, suffering, taxi, theater, touch, town, toy cars, uncertainty, witnessing, writer | Leave a comment

The Agony of Aging

Posted on January 9, 2020 by Callen Harty

While I don’t really feel all that old, I am keenly aware that I am aging. I could still live for several more decades, but maybe not. I’m in my 60s now and have had several heart issues. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged acquaintance, acquaintances, aging, Brendan Hartmann, Donato Deshmukh, dust, energy, family, friends, good times, hearing, heart, heart issues, Jim Green, Joe Johnson, journey, joys, Lars Prip, laughter, live, lonelier, loss, love, memories, Mom, mortality, mother, sight, smile, sorrows, soul, younger | Leave a comment

Proud

Posted on May 26, 2019 by Callen Harty

Twenty years ago I was working at OutReach, which is Madison, Wisconsin’s LGBT Community Center. I was also heavily involved at Broom Street Theater, a unique theater company that produces nothing but original works. I was an actor, director, and playwright … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged actor, age, angst, Art & Soul Innovations, audiences, Brian WIld, Broom Street Theater, bullying, changed lives, coming out, confusion, Crown Point, director, Eau Claire, emotion, equality, family, feelings, first loves, friends, gays, Green Bay, harassment, hate, ideas, identities, Indiana, joy, laughter, lesbians, LGBT, LGBT Community Center, LGBT rights, life, love, Madison, mentor, mentors, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, non-profit, opinion, OutReach, performance, Platteville, plays, playwright, Pride Youth Theater Alliance, Proud Theater, queer, queer youth theater, reality, River Falls, sexual assault, shyness, skit, Sol Kelley-Jones, stage, suicide, Sun Prairie, Sunshine Jones, survivor stories, teen years, theater, transgender, Wausau, Wisconsin, wonder, youth | 2 Comments

On Living

Posted on October 22, 2017 by Callen Harty

While country music is not my favorite style of music there is one crossover song that strikes me every time I hear it. It is Tim McGraw’s song, Live Like You Were Dying. Every time I hear the line, “Someday I … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged afterlife, altar boy, Ash Wednesday, aunt, brother, cancer, car crash, country music, cousin, crossover, death, Etta Kelly, family, father, gift, Godloss, grandparents, heart attack, high school, Irish-Catholic, joy, life, Live Like You Were Dying, living, love, loving, meaning, mentor, mortality, paycheck, photographs, skydiving, terminal disease, Tim McGraw, tragedy, travelling, uncle, Vietnam | Leave a comment

Maybe the Best Christmas Present Ever

Posted on December 26, 2014 by Callen Harty

Even as a little boy Christmas for me was never mostly about the gifts and the commercialism that mark the season in this country. As a child in a strict Irish-Catholic family it was about the celebration of the birth … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged A Family Matter: A Parents' Guide to Homosexuality, Amish, Aunt Avene, blessing, Brian WIld, Christmas, Christmas Eve, come out, Currier & Ives, dementia, driftless area, engaged, family, gay rights, Happy New Year, holiday, hometown, homosexuality, honesty, humor, Ireland, Irish, Irish-Catholic, Jesus, justice, Madison, Merry Christmas, Mom, mother, pierced ear, Platteville, political statement, potato famine, Santa Claus, Shullsburg, sprituality, Wisconsin, Yahtzee | 2 Comments

From Dreams

Posted on December 11, 2014 by Callen Harty

Yesterday morning I woke up from a hard dream and it stayed with me all day long. In the dream I was at work when my cell phone rang. It was my sister calling and all she said was “She’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged birthday, Christmas, dream, family, Hospice, last rites, love, mother, premonition, sister, sleep | 1 Comment

More than Benefits

Posted on October 8, 2014 by Callen Harty

Often when the subject of marriage equality comes up there is talk of the financial benefits of marriage, especially in America where everything is typically reduced to the bottom line of expenses and profits, where people often look most to … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged acceptance, adoption, AIDS, America, American Psychiatric Association, benefits, bottom line, Brian, closet, commitment, discrimination, domestic partnership, economy, electroshock, engagement, family, gay, gay bars, gay rights, homosexual, human family, inheritance, joint income tax returns, legislative hearings, lesbians, LGBT, love, marriage, marriage equality, matrimony, medical decisions, next of kin, partner, people of color, Platteville Wisconsin, profits, queer, retirement, same-sex marriage, second class citizenship, Social Security, Stonewall Rebellion, straight, survivor benefits, transgender, Veterans’ Administration, wedding, Wisconsin | Leave a comment

Letter to the LaFayette County Clerk

Posted on June 13, 2014 by Callen Harty

On Friday, June 7, Judge Barbara Crabb ruled Wisconsin’s Constitutional same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional. She didn’t do a very good job of guidance for what that meant, but by Thursday morning, June 12, all but nine of Wisconsin’s 72 counties … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Attorney General, Clerk Bawden, conservative, Constitution, Democrats, discrimination, divorce, family, gay, government, Governor Walker, hate, human rights, husbands, J. B. Van Hollen, Judge Barbara Crabb, La Fayette County, lesbian, love, marriage, marriage licenses, MAssachusetts, orientation, patriarchy, places of worship, policy, politics, procreation, Republicans, rights, same-sex couples, same-sex marriage ban, Shullsburg, straight, traditional marriage, Wisconsin, wives | Leave a comment

Thanks and Love

Posted on November 28, 2013 by Callen Harty

Today I pause to give thanks, though I realize that each day lived is a gift for which I can be thankful. When you survive a major life-threatening heart attack then each day after that brings new wonder and beauty … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 1%, Brian WIld, conscience, ethics, family, family of choice, heart attack, love, morals, mother, possessions, poverty, rich, thanks, Thanksgiving | 2 Comments

Reflections on My Mother

Posted on September 26, 2013 by Callen Harty

I can’t stop thinking about my mother this week. For months now it has seemed that she is at the end of her life, but she has kept waking up to each new day, seemingly strong and determined despite her … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged end-of-life, family, inevitable, laughter, memories, mother | Leave a comment

On Becoming an Orphan

Posted on June 10, 2013 by Callen Harty

Little boys can have all sorts of unimaginable fears. There can be monsters in the closet or under the bed, temptations of the devil, bullies on the street, bad guys in general, even the horrors of spinach or other foods … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged brothers, dad, death, dementia, emotions, family, father, fears, grandparents, hero, heroic, human, little boys, living, love, Mom, mother, orphan, sister | 6 Comments

The Age of Marie

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Callen Harty

On Friday night I was watching television when I suddenly noticed flashing red lights on the walls of my living room. I turned and saw an ambulance across the street, a fire truck parked a little further down, a police … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged family, immortality, innovation, inventions, kindness, love, Marie Metry, mortality, neighbors, technology, war | 7 Comments