We’re just a few weeks away from Memorial Day, the unofficial start of summer. But in some ways, it feels like summer has already begun. We attended a graduation party yesterday for one of our neighbors who just finished college, and will soon be off to nursing school. In a few weeks we’ll be attending another graduation party – this one for our nephew. Since he enlisted in the Army, his high school graduation will not only be a celebration of his accomplishments, but a [...]
My first-ever trip abroad was with a tour group to Paris in 2005. We had a full and glorious itinerary, visiting the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, Versailles, Monet’s Garden, Sacre Coeur, and other famous and not-so-famous-but-still-wonderful sites. Sadly, Notre Dame was not among them. It was on our original itinerary, but the day we left the States for Paris was the day Pope John Paul II died. In the following days and weeks, Catholic churches around the world – including Notre Dame, of course – [...]
Although I wouldn’t expect anyone to notice, there was something missing for me at the beginning of the year. Ever since 2001, when I first began writing a weekly newspaper column, I started each year with a column or blog about my New Year’s Resolutions. (Yes, I’m one of the people who still makes them.) But this year, I didn’t. I don’t mean I didn’t make a New Year’s Resolution, just that I didn’t write about it. The reason had nothing to do with the [...]
‘Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the night, I had fitfully slept on a long airline flight From Uganda to Amsterdam, and then to Atlanta Where I’d finally be home to await our own Santa. The couple beside me were speaking in Dutch, So we nodded a greeting, but didn’t say much. I knew none of their language, they knew little of mine. But we somehow communicated, and things worked out fine. At one point, the wife tried to turn on her light. [...]
PLEASE NOTE: I’m taking a break from my blog for the rest of December, so this will be my last post until after Christmas. I hope you have a warm and wonderful holiday season! I woke up a few days ago to a view so stunning I had to run outside – in my pajamas – to take a photo. This happens every so often, and my usual experience is that no matter how hard I try, or how quickly I move, I’m never [...]
The theme of our Toastmasters meeting this week was “Holiday Traditions—the Profound, the Silly, and Everything In Between.” Our Toastmaster shared a holiday tradition his family practices, which is to give each other gifts you can’t wrap. As soon as he mentioned this, my mind immediately envisioned large or odd-shaped gifts that are difficult to wrap. Or were, before the invention of gift bags. But that’s not the kind of gift he was talking about. He explained by telling us first of the grandma who [...]
A friend posted something on Facebook recently that really warmed my heart. She had been in a coffee shop with several friends, discussing a difficult decision she had to make, and apparently got a bit teary-eyed while talking about it. A little later, a young woman stopped by their table on her way out, with a piece of coffeecake for my friend, telling her she hoped it would make her day a little better. I’m sure it did. And I’m going to try to keep [...]
“So— What are you doing for Thanksgiving?” It’s a common question at this time of year. With the mobile society we live in today, and with family members spread out across the country from each other, there are many more options than everyone gathering at Grandma’s house, which was a lot more common in days gone by. Not that it isn’t still an option. Many of our friends and neighbors have children and grandchildren, and for some of them, their house is where everyone comes [...]
“Summertime, and the livin’ is easy.” It’s a line from a song in the musical, Porgy and Bess, and it was also the theme of both our Toastmasters meeting this week, and the Table Topics portion of the meeting. During Table Topics, one person will ask a question or make a comment, and then call on another member to respond. That person has to talk on the subject for 1-2 minutes. Table Topics gives us all a chance to practice thinking on our feet, and [...]
242. That's the number of candles on America’s birthday cake this year. If America made a wish before blowing out the candles, don’t you wonder what it might have been? After giving it some thought, I have a few ideas. If it were me, I would wish for fewer headlines about the people who are most in the news these days, and more about people like the man who returned my nephew’s lost wallet a few weeks ago. My nephew figured it must have fallen [...]