Writing from the Heart with Brian
Think, Laugh, & Cry Each Day
(A version of this story appeared on The Heart of The Matter on April 12, 2023.) I wrote the date at the top, folded the paper, and slid it into an envelope. Some weeks I’m good at this; some weeks, not so much. For the past 17 years, I’ve written my wife a short note every Wednesday.... Continue Reading →
A trip to the mailbox turned into a journey through a space-time continuum. Flipping through a surprise Christmas catalog brought back vivid memories of Thanksgiving turkey, my dad at the kitchen table, and studying the 5-pound Sears Wish Book. A brief, wonderful detour to Neverland. Who's with me?
What started as a quiet need to get back to writing for myself has grown into 11 years of stories about family, growth, and the shifting seasons of life. A look back at how this blog began.
From getting on TSA watchlists for excessive friendliness to realizing your expensive headphones have a noise-canceling button after a two-hour flight, here are a few observations from Terminal B, Gate 50.
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.
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