A year ago, as I was getting accustomed to my new normal as a widower, my first compulsion was to travel. Not so much to escape the pain. It’s not in my personality to run from discomfort. I’m more inclined to stare it in the face, knowing I have no intention of blinking. I’m learning …
When I was a kid, my parents had a set of Encyclopedia Britannica. They were bound in dark red cloth, probably 20 volumes, likely from the 50s. I referred to them occasionally on high school reports. I never inquired how much they cost or if my parents inherited them. They sat on a shelf in …
I taught in theory against this question when I trained hosts in the restaurant. I never wanted to imply that something or someone is missing in the equation as a person arrives for service. I now know what it’s like to be on the receiving end of this question. On my trip through New England, …
We had started saving for it back in 2018. And there it was, in the bottom of the drawer, the bank bag labeled Portland Maine 2020. I needed something to look forward to. I refer to it as a finish line. I like to set them in front of me, sometimes daily, but especially during …
I said goodbye to another friend yesterday. He was only 60. We were brought together through his music and our connection was forged through grief. We met 10 years ago at one of his concerts. His music was an immediate salve for the collateral damage inflicted on me from the impact of my wife’s recent …
In the summer of 1995, I saw Andre Agassi on television, competing at Wimbledon. But gone was the signature styled long hair. The man had shaved it off. Buzz cut. Chrome dome. Clean as a whistle. He later admitted to wearing a hairpiece and even credited the worry about it falling off as cause for …
I just got home from attending and officiating the Warrior’s wedding in Idaho. He lives up to his name. He has always fought for my freedom. It’s been 10 months since the state of a new identity was introduced to me. I am certainly in a better frame of mind today and continue to explore …
My dad passed away 15 years ago today. And as regular practice on this blog, I repost the eulogy I wrote and read at his funeral. It includes a story I’ve told countless times over the years. And now that story is bearing fruit in the form of young fathers with their sons, telling me …
It’s amazing how a little item like a mask can be the source of such social division and outrage. Yet I have a simple thought to consider this morning, on how we got to this point. Take a look at your social media feed, especially Facebook and Twitter. Count the number of responses of kindness …
Today we gather to remember Junarita Rachel May Shinn. She had a rather unique first name. Many, many times, her name was misread or mispelled, and mistakenly pronounced “Juanita.” In my entire life, I never met another JUNARITA. I doubt many people have. And wasn’t this woman as unique as her name? Many of you …