I’ve never met Joon Park, a chaplain at Tampa General Hospital, but I feel like I know him well. Park, 41, was featured recently in a CNN article and has counseled thousands of dying patients and their families. In the article, Park explained that most of the regrets he sees from patients on Death's Door come... Continue Reading →
A diamond in the rough
I pulled into the parking space and looked at my watch. I had an hour before I needed to get back to the newsroom and finish up the story I was working on for the next day’s paper. I sat quietly in my car, the air conditioning on full blast, and thought one more time... Continue Reading →
A sad day
I read this week that the New York City Fire Department has added 43 new names to its World Trade Center Memorial Wall commemorating firefighters, paramedics and civilian support staff members who have died from illnesses related to the rescue and recovery efforts in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attack. The new names... Continue Reading →
Dating my wife
I’m generally not one to run from milestone birthdays or special events. I’ve always loved celebrating my birthday. I couldn’t wait to turn 16 to drive and looked forward well in advance to turning 21 so that I could legally drink. When I passed the 30, 40, and 50 birthday marks, I waved goodbye to... Continue Reading →
Faithful friends
When my dad was in his early forties, he had a major heart attack that damaged much of his heart. He was lucky to survive the attack and he later needed a quadruple heart bypass. The surgeon took an artery from my father's leg and inserted it in his heart, creating a new path for... Continue Reading →
Make your hugs count
It's that time of year. Students across the country are heading back to school. Of course, it occasionally means another kind of story, a sadder one. It means stories like what happened Tuesday in Ohio, where a student was killed and 23 were injured when their school bus crashed on state Route 41 in German... Continue Reading →
Yes, dear!
I think I’ve found the meaning of life. It was right in front of me. Let me explain. My wife was shopping last fall in Cape May, New Jersey. If you've never been there, it's a quaint seashore town with Victorian-era mansions and small shops. I was along for the ride and was holding my... Continue Reading →
Kicking the bucket
I’m dying. It's a sobering thought. Oh, I’m not dying today, nor tomorrow, nor the next day, at least as far as I know. I have nothing specifically wrong with me and I don’t know the specific date when I'm passing onto the next life, but I'm still dying. I don't mean to diminish the health... Continue Reading →
Will this matter in ten years?
(Reposting from a previous blog with some slight editing and an updated ending) I came out of the classroom and wanted to scream. I had spent hours studying for the Econ 101 test, but I felt like I had been lied to by the professor. His test included a number of questions on topics that had... Continue Reading →

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