Up The House

By J. Lewis Celeste

Whatever America means to you, it meant something to so many that are no longer here to speak. We should recognize that their blood has already spoken. We should honor their resolve, respect their commitment and heed their ultimate sacrifice. Of those that are still here, we should reflect, and remember everyday what they did, and we should respect them and honor them and thank them. It is recognized that this is difficult when you are trying to get to work, or pissed off because of traffic, but try to remind yourself that you have traffic because society endures, and you could have more significant obstructions that could be considered more than an inconvenience.

• Language: English
• Publisher: J. Lewis Celeste
• Release date: Oct 17, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370243921

J. Lewis Celeste

J. Lewis Celeste is the author of the novel, “Gettin’ Paid,” along with several short stories and poems. He is a social commentator who encourages readers to question their opinions. J. Lewis Celeste challenges readers to evaluate their own beliefs, values, and perspectives. His writing focuses on core universal themes of the human condition.Contact: [e-mail]

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Up The House

By J. Lewis Celeste

Copyright 2017 J. Lewis Celeste

Smashwords Edition

You can’t ask a man to celebrate his birthday the day his mother died. It just ain’t Christian. Hell, it ain’t even human. So my kin, outta respect for the dead, and the living, I’spose, decided that I was a day older, now being born on July 11th, rather than the 12th. They reckoned that I would want to have my birthday before my mother’s death as ’posed to after, even though some can argue that the 13th would’ve been a birthday gift in its own right, for I’d been a day younger and that could’ve been some gift! Besides we ain’t that ’stitious ’bout numbers, so 13 would've been fine by me.

Actually, I would’ve liked had they picked a day a week earlier, like the 4th of July, so that I’d be sharing a birthday of local significance! That would’ve been neat. But they ain’t think of that, and when I did, ’bout five years later, they told me to hush up—You hush up Ear! They said. But any day in July is a good day to be born for sure, a month full of fond summer memories. So whether the 4th or the 11th, it’s a fine summer day for lemonade, ice-cream cake and family—but with a price, yeah, a fuckin’ price for sure!

My name is Ernst Kirshner, and I hail from Beesontown, Pennsylvania. Officially known as Uniontown, but we locals prefer Beesontown, after our founder Henry Beeson who stood us up on July 4th, 1776. Yeah, I know, you're like what? But for sure, I’m not foolin’, that is our local significance!

I was born in 1942, just after Pa shipped out with the 17th Engineer Battalion, 2nd Armored Division, or what Ma called Hell on Wheels. I ain’t never met him ’cause he ain’t had the luck to come back. But Ma was so proud of him! Like most of our heroes from Westsylvania, Pa was an iron (arn) man, so him being in an armored division was a-pro-pro (if that’s how you say it).

He died on June