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Aug 18, 2023Liked by Charlie Bleecker

the way that this post made me FEEL SOME TYPA WAY! I love how honest you can be in this pieces and how much of you shines through. Every time I write a personal-ish piece (or just a personal paragraph in a sea of words), I think - how can I make this more Charlie?

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Becky!! Your comments mean a lot, thank you. I cried while writing this and editing this, so I'm glad my emotion came through, in some typa way.

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Aug 15, 2023Liked by Charlie Bleecker

Excellent. Reminds me of 1978 when the English teacher failed me. Totally hated her but after summer school, grade 12 and university i saw she was awesome and did me a massive favor by giving me that wake up call. Where ever you are madam, Thank You!

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Yes, Don! It's amazing how these moments can stay with us after so many years.

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I love hearing about your time coaching field hockey, Charlie. And your sincerity never ceases to amaze me. The ability to pluck vignettes from your life and show us the uncomfortable, the ugly, and the lessons continue serving as inspiration for my writing. Thank you for writing this!

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Ah thank you, Camilo! It's cool to see how this has evolved over the years. I used to literally put my hands over my eyes when I thought of the ugly stuff. I can't share that! Then I started sharing it, and would find ways to defend myself about it (this was the most cringeworthy phase). Now when I think of these things I get so excited and think, Ohhhh this is gonna be good, and I lean into the ugly stuff. The ugliest stuff is the truest stuff, which makes it the most relatable.

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