Category: Family

I started writing my blog in November of 2017. The following June I wrote a story called My Three Wise Men. I posted it on Father’s Day. It was about the three men that had the greatest impact on me. I wrote first about my father. In 1995 I gave a journal to each of …

I visited Michael, Kate, and young Jackson James in California to celebrate Jackson’s second birthday.  Mike and I were having an adult beverage and Jackson knocked my glass over. It wasn’t a deliberate act. He simply bumped the side table where the drink sat, and his blow tipped it over. Jackson was oblivious to his …

If you’ve ever had teenagers in your life, you may be able to relate to this tale.  The event took place about thirty years ago, but I remember the key components like they occurred yesterday. One of the perks of being a school superintendent was attending conferences in Traverse City each fall.  Ruth enjoyed going …

My daughter-in-law, Kate, is the California Dairy Queen.  She never had a formal coronation, but since she started working with the California Milk Advisory Board that’s what I call her. The California dairy industry is a significant part of California’s agricultural community.  Milk has the highest farm revenue among California agricultural commodities. California ranks first …

I had a mini revelation on Christmas Eve. Michael, Kate, Jackson and I were getting in the car to join Elizabeth and Sutton on the beach at Dana Point for the second year in a row when I flashed back to Michael’s first Christmas. Ruth and my David was almost the same age as young …

My first friend, Mitch, died last Friday. The last time I saw him was during a luncheon that my sister, Jackie, held at her house in June of 2023. She invited the two of us to join our third friend, Rudy. The three of us reminisced about our younger days. Our most recent bond was …

Editor’s Note:  I wrote the original version of 15 Weeks last October.  I’d forgotten all about it.  As I was reviewing my draft of today’s blog, the original version popped up.  I’m not going to develop a whole new story.  The bulk of this tale is similar, but it has a different ending.  With over …

With a condo in Michigan, and a house in Florida, I’ve got a lot of cupboards and closets.  I’m responsible for the organization of one closet in Michigan, and I didn’t organize anything in Florida.  Ruth did it all. My single contribution is the closet that I use for my office. It’s really one of …

We visited St. Andrews yesterday. It’s the home of golf. When the kids were young, Ruth and I took all three to the local par three golf course called Silver Lake. It’s on US 12 a few miles from our Lake LeAnn home. We’d go on Sunday afternoons. I don’t recall how many golfers I …

About a dozen ago, our entire family met in Montana. We stayed at the bed and breakfast. Ruth and I slept in the main house while the kids and their crews stayed in a couple of cabins on the property. We had a great time. We all went on a two hour horseback trail ride. …