It's been rather rough the past week or so. The reality of our dad's stroke has thoroughly soaked in. There's only a sticky residue on my skin now. I can't wash it off. This situation is the new normal. It's going to be with us as long as our parents are alive. There's way too …
Category: Attitude
#kidtime/2, Sunday
Not sure how it is in your world, but on this side, it seems like the list of things to do is never-ending. Sundays are no exception. There's the usual stuff we all have to attend to: dishes, laundry, picking up from the previous week, checking and paying the bills for the week, grocery shopping...if …
FRIDAY FAVES, ISSUE #22
Don't know about you, but on my side 2016 is starting off at a pretty good clip. Another week in the books, another edition of Friday Faves for you. ENJOY! Destination of the Week: Kerala is a state in the southwest corner of India. 13 reasons for applause and an indication that things CAN get …
Relative Struggle
The dictionary defines the word STRUGGLE thus: "To contend resolutely with a task, problem, etc.; strive." There's been a fair amount of low-level, daily struggle with my family's current health situation. As I shared last week, my father suffered a stroke on New Year's Eve. He's now in a stroke rehabilitation center beginning his comeback. …
Marriage is a Choice
My wife, SCL, is a very thoughtful person. Smart too. And pretty, well...pretty as well (I was going to say HOT!, but thought better...whoops!)... We've been together ten years, married seven, and have three kids under five (if you've read other posts, you might know this already). The following is a piece she posted a …
Stroke, Revisted
My first experience with stroke was as a little boy. My father's mother, who lived in western New York, had a stroke when she was in her sixties. That stroke changed grandma's life. She never went home. She was in a nursing home the rest of her life, until she died many years later. What …
Daughters: Let Them Shine
When my daughters were born I realized my mission as a dad was suddenly a lot more dynamic than I'd imagined it would be. While I've always respected and gotten along with women, and felt that I understand them pretty well (as best I can, being a man) raising girls was a reality I hadn't …
Don’t Be Afraid of a Nibbled Doughnut
We face it all the time as parents of little kids. A plate of food barely touched, a doughnut with the sprinkles and frosting eaten away but little else. What to do? People are starving all over the world. Refugees are on the move fleeing war. And here's this lightly nibbled pastry. The answer? If …
#kidtime/1
We've been at it for a while. The oldest is nearly five years old, the middle one is three, the youngest will be two in a couple months. With all the holiday (and usual weekend) prep activities today, coupled with a particularly needy son today, this mantra came to mind. I'm going to use liberally. …
3 P’s: Pain, Purpose, and Progress
There's a sign in three foot letters on the side of a church I pass by frequently. It says "NEVER GIVE UP." I couldn't agree more. I've written elsewhere about the value of accepting and thus transcending the fact that life is difficult. The idea is, once we accept this statement to be true, it's …
1/2_Full, All GOOD 