Writing from the Heart with Brian
Think, Laugh, & Cry Each Day
Stuck overnight at the airport after a canceled flight, I discovered that no matter how old we get, heavy machinery and late-night maintenance still bring out our inner ten-year-old—and apparently, my new dream vehicle is a $35,000 industrial floor scrubber.
(A version of this story first appeared on June 21, 2023 on The Heart of The Matter.) My sons were both excited, my daughter a bit less, but she was being a good sport. They wanted to see the waterfalls. Our kids were all relatively young and we had billed up the falls and our... Continue Reading →
A heart-stopping moment on a crowded beach taught me about panic, but it took becoming a father twenty-five years later to truly understand the ghosts that haunt our parents—and how quickly routine can turn to chaos.
Featuring a freezing winter night, an AMC Concord, a Renault Encore that took a permanent French "lie-in," and a 35-mph speeding turtle. A look at the visceral panic of unexpected car trouble, and how a lifetime changes the way we handle the shock.
Walking into a furniture showroom shouldn't feel like a high-stakes aerial dogfight, but tell that to the salespeople locking onto us at 50,000 feet. Here is what happens when an introvert who avoids eye contact and a wife who makes instant best friends brave the retail danger zone.
When our kids were young, my wife and I ran nonstop. In the evening, she packed the lunches for the next day while I supervised bath time and made sure they "cleaned behind their ears." It was a crazy, hectic time. It was only when the last book was read and they were tucked three... Continue Reading →
(A version of this story first appeared on April 5, 2023 on The Heart of The Matter.) I would sit at the small desk, my back hunched over the best I could manage, and I would write out a sentence or two onto the page. I would stop, look at what I had written, and... Continue Reading →
We celebrate Father's Day this Sunday. When I think about the day, more often than not, I get flooded with a surge of memories. It's not just one memory, but a lifetime of them. Most of them are happy. A few are sad. I think of my life as a father, I think of my... Continue Reading →
A few weeks ago, I found an old reporter's notebook of mine. It's from when I graduated from college and had my first real job working as a reporter for my hometown newspaper. I covered the county commissioners and made daily trips to the courthouse to cover meetings, keep on top of the crime docket... Continue Reading →
Writing from the Heart with Brian 
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