Category Archives: Family, Memory & Personal Essays

Family, childhood, memory, relationships, personal history, and reflective autobiographical essays.

Poochie Is Never Late for Dinner

Posted on August 8, 2026 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Share a photo of your pet and tell us one thing that makes them uniquely them. She’s never late for dinner!

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Not Everything Happens for a Reason

Posted on July 30, 2026 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Do you think everything happens for a reason? I think it’s most important how people respond to the things that happen, not that there’s a reason why they happen — they just happen; and some things happen by happenstance, with … Continue reading →

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“Touch Me in the Morning”

Posted on July 28, 2026 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

What’s a song lyric that has stuck with you forever? Diana Ross’ “Touch Me in The Morning” has stuck with me forever! When I hear the lyrics, I am transported back to junior high school, to I. S. 318, to … Continue reading →

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One Hundred Years of Black History

Posted on February 16, 2026 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

My father was born the same month Negro History Week was announced, timed to Lincoln’s February 12 and Douglass’s February 14 birthdays. Nearing his centennial, he embodied Black history: North Carolina segregation, a segregated WWII Army, then migration to New York. He rarely spoke of it, but history and literature helped me understand. Continue reading →

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Daddy Dearest

Posted on February 2, 2026 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

My father, a Native Southern Son, was born in the same month and year Negro History Week was established. Then, we were Negroes. Thirty-four years later, when I was born, we were still Negroes. When my father died at the … Continue reading →

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How to Mentor Teens Effectively

Posted on November 8, 2025 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

When I worked in child welfare more than 20 years ago, my supervisor would assign to me what she thought of as the toughest “cases,” i.e., teenagers, and cases where the child ended up in the system because of an … Continue reading →

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Daddy Dearest

Posted on February 22, 2024 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

My father, a Native Southern Son, was born in the same month and year Negro History Week was established. Then, we were Negroes. Thirty-four years later, when I was born, we were still Negroes. When my father died at the … Continue reading →

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Black Youthful Fate

Posted on October 1, 2023 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

As youth they couldn’t waitTo reach for the very starsFor them no such thing as fateAs youth they couldn’t waitTo reach for the very stars Their dreams never appeared to be too farFor them no such thing as fateThey’d be … Continue reading →

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The Watermelon Man in Williamsburg — “Only in New York!”

Posted on September 26, 2023 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

If you live in New York City, or if you have visited NYC, then you probably have an “Only in New York Story.” I am walking down the street in Williamsburg, the land of Hasidim and Hipsters, when I come … Continue reading →

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Virginia on My Mind

Posted on August 19, 2023 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

There is something that keeps drawing me back to Virginia.  Although my father was born in North Carolina, he grew up in Virginia and returned there in 1946 after he was discharged from the segregated U.S. Army.  He was drafted … Continue reading →

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