Five Things I’m Grateful For

I never play well with these viral Facebook things, but when my daughter tags me and when it’s about gratitude, well, I simply must relent. It comes at a fertile time too,

Six Things I Learned While Hiking Waterfalls

Dark Hollow Falls

Having just returned to Virginia from Phoenix, and perhaps because I was missing the Pacific ocean this summer, I found myself pining for water. With nothing pressing on my schedule I decided to spend the weekend hiking some of the waterfall trails in the Shenandoah National Park.  

I Am Your Father, III – Your Attention, Please.

I often feel that apparently unrelated events in my life seem to converge around certain points in time around specific themes.  I don’t think there’s anything supernatural about that. I think we

On Your Deathbed…

© KIK-IRPA, Brussels

I suppose the deathbed question was inevitable and it finally came my way.  I will be as painfully honest and thorough as I can in answering it, but I also have plenty to say about the nature of the question itself because I see it often.

Yes, I Believe!

Oh yes, my brothers and sisters, I believe these things. Truly and without guile I bear witness, I testify, I can give you a hearty “Amen!”  I want to be the purple stripe. “Don’t tell me then ‘be like the rest.’” 

“No. I Am Your Father”

The premature loss of my mother has been one of the defining events of my life. When she was diagnosed with the cancer that would claim her life she was one year younger than I am at this writing and the three years she lived after that were difficult for everyone, mostly for her. I’m not special in this way. Lots of people lose parents and other loved ones before their times in painful circumstances. There’s something profound about a premature loss.