Category: Life Lessons

When Ruth and I established our home on Kalamazoo’s Stockbridge Avenue, it didn’t have a shower and we were shower people.  Sure, I had taken baths when there was no other option, but now that we were married, we needed a shower. I purchased the two-unit house before we wed, so I had to learn …

Ruth and I went to a concert a few days ago.  It was a dual tribute to Bette Midler and Billy Joel.  I like their music, especially Billy’s, so I bought tickets as a part of Ruth’s birthday extravaganza.  Like always, I sang along to most of the songs, doing my best to keep it …

This post is not PG.  If you’re put off by questionable topics, move on now. This is not for the faint at heart.  David and Lindsay, Mike and Kate, don’t let my grandchildren read this until they’re at least twenty-one. Ruth and I have had a Florida home for the past eighteen years.  I was …

I ran into this chart from 1971 the other day.  Ruth and I married that year, and we both bought new cars, so it struck a chord with me. We were in our third year of teaching and making about $7,500 each.  It may have been a bit more, but it wasn’t as high as …

Once we landed, I took my bag of five-dollar bills on the shuttle to the casino.  During the drive the five of us decided to try to parlay our collective stash into an even greater win.  We’d place several wagers on a variety of games.  We’d bet on blackjack, play a hand of pai gow …

I started playing poker with a new group of guys in The Villages about six weeks ago.  There’s a guy from Virginia, one from Pennsylvania, another from Maryland and three from New York.  Nobody drinks alcohol.  They’re focused on the cards.  They take fifty cents from each pot until they reach twenty-five dollars (fifty hands), …

Ruth and I recently watched “Yellowstone”.  We’re Johnny-come-lately to the series, but once we got started, we binged watched every episode.  Now we’re plowing through the prequel, “1883”.  We’re equally impressed. We also attended the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas last December.  Ruth has always been a fan of cowboys. She likes the broad …

When I was a freshman in college, I met the guy on the top left of this picture.  He was a junior at the time and had worked with my dad at Faygo Beverages in Detroit.  I’ve forgotten his last name, but John was from Grosse Pointe. He liked my dad and loved Faygo, the …

Brady’s junior year basketball team hasn’t been as successful as they anticipated.  They thought they had a good team, and perhaps they did, they just struggled to win games.  The Michigan High School Athletic Association’s tournament begins for them on Wednesday so perhaps tournament time will be kinder than the regular season.  Time will tell. …

Ruth and I text Brady a couple times a week.  The coronavirus, and the accompanying shutdown, provided us a small blessing.  Many of Brady’s basketball games are live-streamed, and we get to watch them.  We text him to wish him luck and offer words of solace or praise after the game.  He responds to every …