Category: Life Lessons

When I was an elementary school principal, Madelyn Hunter was one of several educational gurus that I followed.  She had a model for effective teaching that outlined the important parts of a good lesson plan.  I encouraged my staff to use her model.  Some did, some didn’t, but most at least gave a look see …

I met with a second surgeon regarding my left shoulder last week.  He’s a sports medicine expert, specializing in shoulders.  He had a new ex-ray taken when I arrived and reviewed an electronic copy of my cat scan and MRI.   We talked a bit as he pulled on my arms and rattled statistics to his …

When I went off to college in the fall of 1965 I planned to become an attorney. I really didn’t know what an attorney did other than wear a suit to work and use his brain rather than his back to make a living. Most of the men I knew used their back. I had …

When I was a kid my mom and dad had a percolator to make coffee. They put water in the pot, ground coffee in a metal basket, inserted the basket into a metal tube that fit inside the percolator bottom, put the top on the percolator, placed the percolator on the kitchen stove, and fired …

When I began my look into meeting new women on a dating site, I moved forward cautiously.  It was new territory, and I didn’t want to make any wrong moves.  Turns out I haven’t made many moves at all.  The ones I had in my youth are gone. Over the past several months I’ve seen …

If I ever publish another book, I think I’ll call it Based on a True Story. That’s what all my writing is. While I don’t look down on those who write fiction, writing about my life as the stories reappear is just easier for me. As I’ve written before, it’s the truth as I remember …

I applied to be superintendent of Britton-Macon Area School in 1988.  I was one of six selected to be interviewed.  I had a choice of interview dates and times.  I chose the final day and preferred the final time, but that slot was already taken. I believed that the first and last candidate had an …

My time in Addison was great. That’s where the kids grew up. Ruth and I lived there for forty-three years. We didn’t have Michael when we arrived, and he was forty-two, married for more than ten years, when we left. I was hired on August 16th, 1977, the day Elvis Presley died. Once I knew …

My first thought regarding a master’s degree was, “I’ll study to become a counselor”. I made an appointment with Western’s counseling department, and the dean of the school interviewed me. It was, without a doubt, my worst interview ever. When he asked why I wanted to get into counseling I said, “I like talking to …

I’ve been watching the most recent season of The Crown.  It’s the sixth.  The thing I find most interesting is most of the decisions made by the “royal family” are made by tradition.  They do what is expected and not necessarily what they want to do.  That’s how they operate each of their lives. The …