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
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
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
Let’s say that you’re one half of a happily married couple and that you’ll be married for 50 years before one of you passes into the great beyond. In that 50 year time period, you will have been married 18,250 … Continue reading
Recently I completed a writing exercise to help keep my mind active and my writing fresh. As most of you know, I usually write stories that are in the 1000 word range and they seem to end when they end. … 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
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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
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
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
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
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
“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
In the five years since I had lived with Greg and John there were some substantial changes to my life. Despite my efforts to the contrary, I had learned a lot at school. The Viet Nam war ended, and with … 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
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
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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I didn’t understand it. It was raining. It was always raining. I had my Davy Crockett fringed jacket and my Daniel Boone ‘coonskin cap and I was, as usual, ready to explore the acres of woods around the house. So, … 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
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
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
Have you ever just walked around your house and wondered how everything went wrong? Try it. It looks pretty normal doesn’t it? It’s warm inside and cold outside. There doesn’t seem to be a problem here. Why am I doing … Continue reading
J T Weaver 