Category: Life Lessons

The day before my shoulder surgery my son, David, and I played golf. I knew it was the last round I’d play for several months. I scheduled eighteen holes at The Villages’ Havana Country Club. I set it up so we’d start on the Hemingway nine and finish on Kilimanjaro because I’m particularly fond of …

I played golf as a part of the Grunge Tour for several years. Our first tournament was in Lexington, Kentucky. After a few we moved to Myrtle Beach and, ultimately, Tampa, Florida. I’d be lying if I told you when we started and stopped. We competed for more than a dozen years and less than …

If you’re a basketball fan you may recall Allen Iverson’s rant about practice that took place almost twenty years ago.  If you don’t’, click on this link. Iverson Practice! (youtube.com) Allen didn’t like being questioned about practice and his press conference comments became legendary. I spent part of each day leading up to last Wednesday’s …

My sister, Jackie, gave me a book, which I still haven’t read, written by John Gottman and his wife, Julie Schwartz Gottman.  It was sitting on the counter a couple of weeks ago when my daughter, Elizabeth, came to visit.  She picked it up and said, “Oh, John Gottman. Nice.” I didn’t know anything about …

Last Thursday was a rough one. I went to my first funeral since Ruth’s Celebration of Life. One of our teaching friends, Irv, lost his wife, Elaine, the prior week. Irv was on Plainwell Junior High’s staff when Ruth and I started teaching in the fall of 1969. Elaine and Ruth had been students in …

  I know one poem by heart.  It was written by A. E. Housman and first published in 1896. It tells the story of a young man who failed to follow advice. When I Was One-and-Twenty When I was one-and-twenty I heard a wise man say, “Give crowns and pounds and guineas but not your …

Most schools are back in session, and if they’re not, they will be soon. It’s an exciting time of the year. I think most kids like school, not because of their love of knowledge, but because they want to be with their friends. It’s all about socialization. Ruth wasn’t a fan of going back. She …

If you read my blog, you can go back to the very beginning and read my first post from November of 2017.  I’ve written about all sorts of things.  The common theme is twofold.  The stories are about me, and everything is the truth as I remember it. If you’ve signed up on the website, …

I shared dinner a couple days ago with David (son), Lindsay (daughter-in-law), Elizabeth (daughter), Eva (granddaughter) and Donnie (Eva’s beau).  We were discussing the tip process that Eva follows at the restaurant where she works, and the commissions Donnie makes at a fragrance store.  I knew a little bit about tipping because all three of …

I wrote the bulk of this story last fall as Brady was preparing to begin his college career.  I saved the draft but never published it.  Several things got in the way, so it just sat there. When I first considered writing I thought I’d have to have about twenty stories written before I started …