I started remodeling a house in 1983. Jen started before that with her girls. It started off small with a wall here and a door to create a bedroom for JD, which grew into custom cabinets and a pool table in the new space that was a bonus room. Very little landscaping back then and…
The title might be somewhat unclear. My son-in-law’s father was recently diagnosed with a stage four cancer. He is in his mid-eighties and lives a fairly healthy lifestyle. As a result of my daughter realizing a perspective that she doesn’t want to lose either of us, she has had this urgent message to Jen and…
Every two years, since moving to Texas, we host Christmas for all our kids and grandkids. It has grown from seventeen to twenty people by counting all three generations. Then we have an aunt, uncle, great grandpa, niece, and several friends in and out, bringing the total to just shy of thirty. Our kids are…
We face them every day, some are real, some are hurdles created in our sense of ability or lack there of. Nevertheless, as we face them, we are also facing our own character, self-worth, and inner desire to always succeed. Our superhero heart will always work to ensure we don’t give up, but our woe-is-me…
Contrary to my article title, Ohioans got it right yesterday and voted down an amendment to eliminate the simple majority. Many are seeing it as a win for abortion rights and the group leading the charge for pro-choice. Although I see the link and applaud the win, similar votes are coming forward in other states….
I’m unsettled! There isn’t really any other way to say it. I have so many ideas and no real course to get any of them done. I keep notes on my phone with these flashes of brilliance. My ideas are so detailed for the moment the inspiration hits but most simply fade away or become…
Growing up, I guess until the age of 45, I never thought the tropics were something I would love. Man, it took me a long time to find something important that was missing. What was that missing element in my life, one might ask? Often, I think it is an intangible thing, but I’ll give…
Jen and I often talked about travelling the world or just travelling the USA while we were working. I suppose it is a dream of a lot of people to travel and experience locations not always unlike your own in landscape, but culturally different. And, of course, there are those places that are so extremely…
Awhile back, I was talking to my book reviewer/editor (Kate) about how writing about something is like a high-level view of the real story and is often just a catalyst to a memory. Even in my book, my love of music and the eclectic nature of my taste got overshadowed by the many other things…
I was sitting on my dad’s couch yesterday morning, talking and sharing coffee, and as we often do, the subject of the FAA came up. We were talking about common people we knew and about career choices we made, when it dawned on me that April Fool’s Day 2023, today, was supposed to be my…
