CJ Woods III’s Story Archive

We Are Done

January 21, 2021 | by CJ Woods III

On an episode of “The People’s Court” that I was watching, Judge Marylin Milian, after hearing conflicting and acerbic testimony from litigant and defendant, declared, “Stick a fork in me; I’m done.” I chuckled when I heard it, because Judge Milian has a direct and familiar way when meting out … Read More

It Will Take All of Us

January 14, 2021 | by CJ Woods III

As World War I was winding down in the spring of 1918, a strain of influenza unlike any seen before began to take lives. The wartime Allied and Central Powers nations had censors that suppressed the dissemination of that news, fearful of affecting morale. Spain, a neutral country during that … Read More

Just Do It

January 7, 2021 | by CJ Woods III

When I was a young teen, I succumbed to the siren song of avarice and embarked on a criminal path that briefly changed my financial status and just as briefly, altered my moral compass. I was not long in the social badlands before I grew sick of my behavior and … Read More

Compassion

December 24, 2020 | by CJ Woods III

When I was a young manager of a small loan office, one of the older, more experienced and more cynical managers described my responsibilities as “chasing debtors for dollars.” That was because we were required to take collection actions against our own overdue customers. Those actions ranged from letters and … Read More

Together

December 17, 2020 | by CJ Woods III

Early one recent morning as I stirred awake, I slid my hand across the sheet and encountered a hard, flat object: a book. Though barely awake, I smiled at the memory of how it came to be underneath the sheet and comforter that had warmed me through the night, remembering … Read More