Teenagers think they know everything, yet they know almost nothing about life. They are barely educated and lack even the smallest morsels of life’s experience. They think their parents are old and out of touch. They truly believe they can … Continue reading
Life isn’t how great you have become. Life isn’t how rich you are. Life is how many times you’ve been knocked down and still get up. The greatness within you only shines to the world if you let it. Don’t … Continue reading
This is a wonderful example of a mother’s devotion, love, and courage. I am always drawn to these examples that I may also show such traits in my life. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMilJO1PjNQ
My father was well known as a teacher. If you’ve read my blog stories, you’ve recognized his unique art of teaching through the use of stories. But all teachers possess that gift to impart knowledge, and often inspiration, to their … Continue reading
This is a re-post of a video that was removed for a time from You Tube. Interestingly, this is a commercial for Thai television that is three minutes long. If only Americans could make such moving commercials. I hope you … Continue reading
This is why I wrote everything down knowing that someday I would lose that ability. I wanted to remember those wonderful moments, those seemingly inconsequential moments of parenting that fill your heart with joy and love forever. As I age … Continue reading
Sometimes we go through life without seeing those little acts of kindness that happen all around us. Then, without warning we start to notice, we start to see, and we start to understand. These small events then begin to affect … Continue reading
Many of us grew up not knowing the true character of our parents. Sadly, it is only much later that we find the evidence that changes our perception of who our parents really were. I found this video exceptionally inspirational … Continue reading
Are you thinking about having a ‘mini-me’ running around the house? If you and your partner have functioning biological equipment, you’re good to go. And if you don’t, you can even adopt. There’s no experience or qualifications necessary and there … Continue reading
I was called by many names in my lifetime: baby, sibling, teenager, Uncle, In-law, parent, grand parent. At each stage, I took pieces of this journey and grew. I am not my father yet many see him in my eyes … Continue reading
“Dad! Is that you?” “Of course, you don’t recognize your own father?” “Well, … you look terrific, I mean, … when I last saw you 10 years ago …” “Ya, Alzheimer’s does that to you. You look pretty chipper for … Continue reading
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My father was a Mechanical Engineer. That was how he defined himself. Sure, he retired as the Executive Vice-President of the company where he worked for 42 years, but he was always an engineer first. The precision necessary for the … Continue reading
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My father was a bit of a pocket philosopher. There wasn’t an occasion or event that couldn’t be summed by a clever quip that he had learned while growing up. Some of these clever quips turned into what appeared to … Continue reading
Both Mom and I had been raised with the tradition of the evening meal at the dinner table. So it was easy for us to adopt the same traditions for our family. Mom had eaten dinner many times at my … Continue reading
Karen and I absolutely loved living together in Massachusetts. It is a place of beauty from the Blue Mountains to Cape Ann to Cape Cod. It is a place that has mastered the culinary arts with those resources locally available … Continue reading
Michal Weber arrived in Shamokin, PA, Northumberland County, from Stuttgart, Germany around 1770, changed his name to Michal Weaver, and the family with most of its branches would always live there. He volunteered to fight for his new country and … Continue reading
As the children begin to grow into their own, there is always an event that tells the parent that each child is different. This event is different from what foods they like or their favorite color. In our family, the … Continue reading
I guess you would think that I had nothing better to do while working in that nice office in Falls Church, VA. but look out the window. That woodpecker and I sparred for a few weeks it’s true, but that … Continue reading
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We first saw this starving, flea-bitten street dog shortly after we moved here. Patrick was riding his tricycle on the driveway and this strange dog came up the driveway behind him. When my son turned around, the dog was there … Continue reading
When Sarah was very young, I was blessed with the task of comforting her before bedtime. I would sing to her and gently dance with her until she fell asleep. It became a tradition and when Patrick was born I … Continue reading
The schools in the area surrounding the new house were reportedly very good and our future was bright. Sarah and Patrick thrived at this new house. We were in the middle of the Civil War [locally referred to as The … Continue reading
During this time I had continued to work for GTE Government Systems. I was working on a very important DoD software development program that would eventually be used in the 1991 Persian Gulf War and I was having a great … Continue reading
When Sarah was four and Patrick had yet to experience his second birthday, something happened. It was something that I swore I would never let happen. In my job, I had shunned travel assignments or any other interruptions to my … Continue reading
As a new parent, you are faced with so many challenges, but one of the earliest is trying to control the situation. We had already decided that when our children did something good, we would reward and when they did … Continue reading
So far, in our short married life, my wife and I had made a few conscious decisions. Among other things, we decided we wanted to have a girl and a boy and if that happened right away, our family would … Continue reading
We found out we were pregnant in March of 1989. Yes, we, as I have always believed that creating a family isn’t just, ‘you’re pregnant and I’m along for the ride.’ We were growing our family together and we couldn’t … Continue reading
Here are a few notable examples of life at our house in those early days. We had a nice little patch of lawn at our house in Lakeville. It was perhaps 12,000 square feet and it took me about an … Continue reading
This is a story about two events; one where an 18-month-old child gets very sick and another about how life has changed in the last 25 years. We had just returned from a road trip to Maryland. Sarah seemed to … Continue reading
In those early days when we first began considering parenthood, the question of ‘how many children do you want to have?’ was always a part of the discussion. I would always answer that ‘six is a good number,’ and my … Continue reading
After my wife had been given 48 hours to recover, our new family of three was headed home. The new car seat was inspected first by the hospital staff, approved, and off we went. My mother-in-law had arrived for a … Continue reading
In a previously written post, “You Better Hurry Up,” I told the story of how my father very logically suggested that at 36 I was getting a little old for children. While I didn’t appreciate his interference, I did heed … Continue reading
Karen and I were having a wonderful time together as newlyweds. We were learning a lot about each other, enjoying our jobs, and enjoying, for the most part, cookouts at my parents house. We did, however feel the political background … Continue reading
When I took the job at AT&T, part of the move was to rent the apartment that was available in a building that Elinor owned. Her mother (Gram) lived on the first floor, her nephew Gary lived on the second … Continue reading
It was the summer of 1968. I was a camp counselor at a small boys camp in western Massachusetts. I was the new Massachusetts Junior Smallbore Champion. I had passed my NRA instructors test and so I was qualified to … Continue reading
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I didn’t know any of this at the time, but this idea of sending me off to Miami Military Academy (MMA) was a pretty sweet deal for my mother. It got me out of the house, which was the main … Continue reading
There is no doubt that my Dad had an unusual way of teaching. He taught almost by parable, but not quite. He would tell a story, sometimes funny, and leave the rest for you to figure out on your own. … Continue reading
In our house the focal point of every new topic, every new discussion, and ultimately every new clever story was at the dinner table. The evening meal was when every member of the family was present at the same time. … Continue reading
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My parents were often told that I was a precocious child, not that they needed to be told. I didn’t always know why it was important to do something, but somehow I knew that some things had to be done. … Continue reading
Recently I read the “20 Marriage Tips Everyone Needs To Know,” by Gerald Rogers and the response article “10 Marriage Tips Every Wife Needs To Hear,” by Karen Lodato. While both of these articles are excellent, I began to wonder … Continue reading
Sugar and Spice, and Everything Nice? By Holly Patrone http://www.hpatrone.com I’ve written two humorous novels, ‘Death Is a Relative Thing’ and ‘Relative Identity’. They aren’t memoirs but it’s hard not to let bits and pieces of real life roll into … Continue reading
When I first met the woman who would become my wife, I noticed that when she became very tired, her left eye would turn in slightly. We would most often call this ‘lazy eye’ even though there are much more … Continue reading
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That was some, er, feet By Terri S. Vanech http://www.pushingonarope.com There’s an old saw that says you should walk a mile in someone else’s shoes, but you couldn’t have gotten very far in mine today. I took a quick break in … Continue reading
I am often entertained by the widespread complaints throughout the social networking spaces about the rich in our country. So I thought I would take a look at some of the factors consistent with the very rich. This will be … Continue reading
