I’m a storyteller who tries to make sense of everything life throws at us, and maybe even find the humor in things.
I stopped, closed my eyes for a brief second and then reopened them. I would have to try again. I wanted to know exactly what chapters were going to be covered in our upcoming exam, but the teacher said he couldn’t understand where I was going with my question. “This- This- This- This new material, … More Grateful to be forged by fire
My wife and I shuffled out of the hospital exhausted. We both still wore our wrinkled work clothes, my dress shirt was untucked, my tie loose around my neck, and we had dark circles under both our eyes. We had been through the ringer. Our daughter who had come into the hospital emergency room looking … More The kindness of strangers
The young man spent most of his free time at the firehouse. If he wasn’t at his warehouse job, the one that paid the bills, he was found most evenings at the firehouse. He was the youngest volunteer on the team, so most of his time was spent cleaning up after the rest of the … More In the eye of the beholder
Image by Jordan Benton by Pexels. Sweat dripped down my back. I told myself that it was from the many trips my parents and I had walked up and down the stairs in the summer sun, lugging my bags from the car to my college dorm room. I knew better though. I was nervous about … More Sink or swim moments
The first time I met Susan I thought she came across as rude and opinionated. I had just started a new job and my boss introduced her as my project manager. She looked to be a few years older than me, wore a black dress and jewelry that seemed better suited for going out on … More What kind of message would I be leaving?
My mom held tight to my arm this past Saturday as I helped her to her seat and wheeled her walker out of the way. She doesn’t get around quite like she used to when she was a younger woman, but when the wedding DJ started playing uptempo club music, I joked with her that … More Courage to forge your own path
When I was very young, I would crawl into my mother’s lap wearing my onesie pajamas and beg for a glass of milk and for her to read to me. I had a series of favorite books, everything from The Poky Little Puppy; Clifford, the Big Red Dog; The Little Engine That Could; Corduroy; The Berenstain Bears; to Katy and … More How a curious little monkey changed the world
Image by Ono Kosuki by Pexels. My mom was running an errand. When I was a kid, I normally went to her for school permission slips and approvals, but I was already late and I didn’t want to forget another day, so I went to my dad’s workshop and asked if he would sign it. … More Curious about ultralight planes and other things
I looked at the list again. On the plus side, I saw the names of a few friends who were going to be in my fifth-grade class with me. I was happy about that, but the negative side of the scale stood out in big bold face letters to me, and it spelled out the … More Tough as nails
When I was a young kid, I was small for my age. We’d line up at the start of the year, smallest to the tallest, and I would always be one of the shortest boys in my class. I wasn’t the smartest either, I had to work hard for my grades. Every ‘A’ felt like … More If there were 100 people in the world?
The Heart of the Matter 