Category: Current Events

After posting my story titled, We Chatted a Bit, one of my readers, Carole, suggested I look up the word “sonder”, so I did. It’s defined as “the sudden realization that every stranger is living a life as rich, complex, and vivid as your own.” John Koenig, creator of The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, coined …

I went to buy flowers the other day, but when I got to the market, the long-lasting ones I usually pick looked like they were on their last legs. I was frustrated because I always go for the tight-budded Alstroemeria.  They’re known for their longevity. If I choose them well, they take a day or …

My Singles New Beginnings class is taking the next few weeks to talk about friends and friendships.  I led Wednesday’s class and during our discussion I spoke briefly about the neighborhood I grew up in. Everyone knew everyone. The kids all played together, went to the same school and hung out in the park at …

When I first started writing this blog, I imagined it might become a place where readers could not only follow my stories but maybe share a few of their own. I pictured a place where people could talk about the moments that shaped them, the lessons they learned and the memories they still carry. I …

I’m not a mathematician and I don’t believe in coincidence.  Things happen for a reason.  Some are unexplainable. Most are undeniable. When I asked my artificial intelligence friend, Al, to compute the odds of my Vegas boys and me running into the same stranger on two consecutive days in Las Vegas tiki bars, he asked …

I’ve never been much of a bar guy. I visited a few in college, but I was a single hop man most of the time. One and done and then not very often. The only times I went for a drink in Vegas was with some friends, John and Karen. The Sands had a bar …

While I’m deciding what stays in Michigan and what goes to Florida, I’ve had to make some difficult choices. Barbara mentioned “curating” things. In case you’re not familiar with the term, this is what google says. To curate something means to carefully select, organize, and present items in a way that creates a desired effect. …

Shortly after Ruth’s accident, I established the Tebo Family Scholarship Fund. She and I had talked about creating it just a few weeks earlier. We considered supporting students from four different school districts: Plainwell, where she grew up and we met; Addison, where we raised our three children and lived for forty-three years; Adrian, where …

I missed having you and your sister at Wednesday’s class. I know you were busy packing to head back to Pennsylvania, but it would’ve been nice to connect one more time before you left. We had a combined group again, with Barbara leading the first hour and me taking the second. There were twenty-six attendees, …

I went to a celebration last Wednesday.  It was a part of my weekly Singles New Beginnings class.  The group was originally formed a few years ago as a book study for women looking to start a new life.  They’d either lost, or never had, a male in their life and were seeking a new …