Kirjahaku

This book is a compilation of thoughts, beliefs, and philosophies of an older writer; experienced, no longer trying to discover but rather trying to refine who he is. Educational degrees, professional endeavors, and life experiences are in place. His many failures and successes have been analyzed. He has plenty of time to write. Being older, however, he does wonder if he is becoming a curmudgeon, unwilling to bend, not wanting to change, not willing to learn anything new. The author's words create a document that is at the same time provocative and endearing.

Michael's Museum, a collection of over 105 collections of Tiny Treasures is a permanent exhibit at Chicago Children's Museum on Navy Pier. This is the story of how Michael's Museum came to be. It includes stories, photographs, and activities dealing with collecting. Be Amazed Be Amused Be Astounded Experience the Joy Feel the Magic

In this book, Michael, now 80-years-old, has gathered in one place, all of the essays and poetry which has previously been published elsewhere, about aging and becoming an octogenarian. His hope is that it can serve as sort of a manual to help fellow older folks in the understanding of and dealing with the process and gifts of getting older. It should also be helpful for those loving those getting older as their loved ones go through the changes that ages brings along and how this involves greater understanding. Although Michael is a white, cis, gay, male who is retired, older, Jewish, Buddhist, and privileged by birth, his life lessons can be helpful to all.

The issue is that so many of us (myself as well) used to think that there is a right way to grieve the death of a loved one. I have learned that this could not be further from the truth. Each person grieves in their own way, at their own speed, for their own length of time. I am very aware that one cannot and should not tell a person how to grieve. But planting a seed can help with your future processing and grieving the death of someone important to you. The seed, once planted, will grow invisible and quietly in you, and you might just find that when you need it the most, it will surface as a strong, ready-to-work idea, no longer a fledgling seed. May the writings in this book be your seeds.

In his Creative Non-Fiction Writing and Poetry, Michael visits the many aspects of being an older gay man, including: growing up, facts/fantasy, dreams, history, acceptance, discrimination, his husband's Alzheimer's Disease, and more. He is open and honest in his sharing, at times "X" rated, and while the writing is aimed at a gay audience, there is much here for people of all persuasions

Michael's collection of poetry shares every day life experiences, as well as a catastrophic experience; namely loving and living with someone who has been diagnosed with Young Onset Alzheimer's Disease. His poetry is easy to read, understand, and feel. His style is prose like and rarely uses formal types of poetry or rhyme. Reading his poetry is like sharing a conversation and a cup of coffee with a good friend.

This memoir begins in 2003 with Gregory's diagnosis of Dementia, most likely Alzheimer's Disease. They realized that their choice was to lie down and die or hunker down and keep living Michael and Gregory chose to walk the Alzheimer's Path to its fullest and to the best of their abilities. The story follows them through their day-to-day interactions and through Michael's perceptions of living with and loving someone living with Dementia. It covers the next 12 years including Gregory's final eighteen months living at the Lieberman Memory Care Center. It then deals with the days after Gregory's death on October 4, 2015, and Michael's grief at Gregory's passing after their 41 years of being in a committed, same-sex relationship. They were not VICTIMS of Alzheimer's Disease, they were HEROS

In Counting Down the Yardstick, a Creative Non-Fiction Memoir, Michael takes you on an adventure that begins in the 1600s and continues to the present. With the help of David Smith, a Past Life Regressionist, Michael visits five past lives which include an Italian Baker, a Carmelite Nun, a Midway Carny, a Towheaded Boy, and a Midwestern Farmer's Wife. The adventure ends with a sixth life, Michael's current incarnation.