Also available at Fictionwise
CHILDISH THiNGS is highly autobiographical and includes various members of my family, albeit thinly disguised. The genesis of this is the concept of transience. Stories about this subject have always fascinated me, especially those by Lee Cory.
This story appeared side-by-side with another one about an alien message by Jerry Oltion. It was interesting to see that, while I was more inclined to welcome the gifts from beyond, Jerry was not. The two stories make an interesting counterpoint. Neither Jerry nor I knew about each other's story in advance.