The couple that bought our house loved it. They loved the way it was furnished, the view of the lake, Ruth’s eye for the smallest detail, and they told us at closing, “We could see right away that this house is filled with love.” They went on to say, “We’ll do our best to continue …
I’ve Waited
I’ve waited to write this story because only a portion of it is mine. I received a phone call from a former Lake LeAnn neighbor who just recently heard of Ruth’s passing. I had sent her an email a few months ago, but she said she just opened it yesterday. We spoke about Ruth for …
Public Service Announcement
The summer between my junior and senior year of college I dated a girl named Rene. We went out a half dozen times, making a couple trips to lake Michigan. I even brought her home once to go to somebody’s something. She was an attractive, blonde Phycology major. I called on her expertise to answer …
Her Most Recent Visits
By now you know that I believe Ruth’s spirit is near. I don’t experience her presence every day, but she’s around. If she’s not with me, she’s with one of the kids or someone near to me. Michael’s birthday was July 10th. He’s not as convinced as me that Ruth’s spirit is with us. Some …
Her Thoughts
I’ve found several journals Ruth kept. None of them are elaborate. Some are simple spiral bound notebooks, while others were specifically designed for journalling. There’s a few in Florida and I’ve found several in Michigan. Not one was completely filled. She jumped from book to book and didn’t write anything for months, perhaps years, at …
Plus One
David and I played in a golf tournament last weekend. It was the second time we played in “The Prestige” at Tullymore. We competed in a series of five nine-hole matches over two and a half days. There were seven groups of six teams. They all had fancy names. Ours’ was the Royal Saint Georges …
Cougars
This is a story that Ruth would veto. But here goes. Brady turned 18 on June 2nd. He told me he planned to start going to the Mt. Pleasant casino as soon as he could. Several of his friends had already been going. When I spoke to him on the 3rd, he told me he …
The Muffin Man
When I was growing up my heroes were cowboys. I watched them on television and in the movies. Some had cool names like Hopalong and Cisco. Others like Gene and Roy could sing as well as catch the bad guys. One wore a mask even though he was a good guy, and his partner was …
A Lesson Revisited
I wrote the original version of this post several years ago. I published it as my youngest son, Michael, turned 40. He turned again on Monday. He’s forty-five. The Most Important Lesson of My Life JULY 10, 2018 The most important lesson of my life was taught to me by a seven-year-old boy. …
The Golden Rule
If you google the rule, you might find something like this. The Golden Rule, “In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.” encompasses the underlying and guiding principle of all morality. It instructs us to put ourselves in our neighbor’s place and guide our behavior accordingly. It assumes, of course, that …