Tag Archives: education

Retirement and Irrelevance

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

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You Can Shine

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

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Teach

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

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Crime Worth Forgiving

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

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The Memories of Parenting

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

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Give A Little, Get A Lot

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

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Be Counted

Each of us is the product of what we learned growing up.  Each of us incorporated what we learned into our own personalities and a new person emerged.  That person has an individual interpretation of right vs wrong or meat … Continue reading

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Family – An Introspection

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

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62. Lazy

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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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61. Water, Air, and Dirt

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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

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56. Do Me A Favor

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

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54. Not Just Another Tulip Story

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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50. Settling In

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

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46. The Art of Behavior Modification

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

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45. Now The Work Begins

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

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43. Emulation and the Thrill

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

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42. Boston Children’s Hospital

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

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27. San Francisco

 “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco” – probably Mark Twain. I arrived in San Francisco on a sunny Friday afternoon in August 1975.  What a beautiful city!  I was having dinner at a small … Continue reading

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25. Taking the Next Step

Sophomore year was ending and the cycle of looking for an apartment for next year was beginning.  I don’t know how it happened but we all had decided to part ways and get an apartment on our own.  That might … Continue reading

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22. Sophomore Year

Greg, Rod, John and I had become really good friends throughout freshman year.  The four of us had a lot of good times together then.  I even hitchhiked to Charlottesville, VA with Rod for no apparent reason, at least none … Continue reading

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20. Freshman Year

I was finally allowed to work a real job over the summer and so I arrived in Boston with $750 in the bank.  I thought that was a lot of money but it didn’t last long.  I was in sensory … Continue reading

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18. Preparing for College

Academically I was doing fine for my junior and senior years at Tabor.  It wasn’t the easy excellence that I had known in elementary school, but I was never really in danger of not passing a subject, except maybe French.  … Continue reading

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17. Tabor Academy, Part 2

Life at Tabor was all I had hoped it would be.  Although I still struggled academically, I was completely comfortable there.  Thanks to the Rifle Team, I had made several really good and lifelong friends.  But I was still emotionally … Continue reading

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16. The Rifle Team

During the summer before I had started at Tabor, my father imparted another of his sage stories.  This one was very brief and had to do with his experiences in college.  He had enjoyed considerable success on the pistol team … Continue reading

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13. Miami Military Academy

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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

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12. Early Sports

My father wasn’t much of a golfer.  His somewhat portly stature, amazing strength, and lack of flexibility helped to create a consistent duck hook that was truly a sight to behold.  The interesting and funny thing was that he was … Continue reading

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9. The US Steel Story

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

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7. The Piano

For as long as I can remember there was always a shiny black Steinway Baby Grand Piano in our house.  Neither of my parents could play it but I think it served two very important purposes.  First it was an … Continue reading

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Thoughts That Parents Should Consider

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

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The Tags

Frustration is the difference between what you think it should be and what it is.  I used this expression endlessly during my career.  I have found that people will be happy with just about anything if they are prepared for … Continue reading

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Sugar and Spice, and Everything Nice? — Guest Post

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

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Small Town Mother’s Daughter — Guest Post

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Small Town Mother’s Daughter By Robyn Lawson by Blog Woman!!! (robynlawson111.com) Once in a while, my mother plays for me an old country song called, “Idol of the Band.”  One of the chorus lines says, “You may just be some small town … Continue reading

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The Eyes Have It

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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Target Audience

As many of you know, I have been researching the mystical and magical world of marketing.  What I have found so far is there are some things in life that are just ‘beyond the call.’  For me, this is one … Continue reading

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The Dichotomy of Riches

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

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