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 →
An umbrella from the storm of life
I took the elevator down to the ground floor and walked to my parents car. We had moved my stuff into my dorm and all we needed to do was say our goodbyes. The quad area was crazy, parents and kids were coming from all directions, pushing and pulling trollies. I was saying goodbye to... Continue Reading →
Back in the High Life Again!
I feel like a young Steve Winwood singing "Back in the High Life Again. Our 15 year-old dog Nittany, a Lhasa Apsa - Bichon Frise, has pushed me aside for so long that I forgot what it felt like to have her adoring love. Oh, Nittany loves the entire family, but there's no question who's... Continue Reading →
Speaking the same language
In elementary school, making friends seemed to come easy. You became friends over shared likenesses and how you liked to spend recess. "You like kickball too. Wanna be friends?" In high school, it was over shared experiences, like suffering through the same class or sweating together, running cross country. As an adult, I find that... Continue Reading →
Small town USA
When you drove through the small town where I grew up as kid, there were no traffic lights, but you were sure to keep to the 35 mph speed limit for two big reasons. First, you never knew where the local cop might be hanging out, and there were so many Amish families traveling via... Continue Reading →
Taking a leap
A few months ago, I was driving late at night after picking up my son at college. We had to stop for gas. When I got back on the road, we had to drive up a small mountain and a heavy fog had rolled in, slowing our progress. Fortunately, I remembered what my Driver's Ed... Continue Reading →
Breaking news!
When I was a young, small-town newspaper reporter, a lifetime ago, I used to love being in the know, working on a story under a tight deadline, and breaking the news to the public. When the paper came out, I would run to the local coffee shop or courthouse to watch people’s faces as they... Continue Reading →
What are you grateful for?
We celebrate Thanksgiving in a few days. It’s a time for families and friends to come together. Like any gathering, there will be some happiness and maybe even some stress and tension. Who's going to be late to the dinner table? Who let the refrigerator door open? Who brings up politics over the dinner table?... Continue Reading →
Prepping for the li’l ghosts and goblins
Halloween will be here soon. When the neighborhood kids come to the door on Halloween night, dressed as Batman or Spiderman or any number of costumes, I want to yell out “get off my lawn” or “go bug someone else,” but my wife shushes me and tells me to stop teasing. She usually sends me... Continue Reading →

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