Grateful for going to my home group and seeing people I love. Grateful for meeting a lady at the meeting with 32 years in recovery and exchanging numbers. Grateful for being able to go grocery shopping. Grateful for being able to fall asleep in the midst of all the fireworks. Grateful for meeting a lady… Read More Gratitude List for December 31, 2023
79 of my former classmates met last Sunday night on Zoom for our 45 year reunion. I signed up and paid to go and then had what can best be described as an emotional relapse to the way I felt about myself and how I believed others perceived me dating back to 1975. Instead of… Read More My 45 Year Class Reunion via Zoom
Dear Mom, I was drawn to write you for the first time in ages, and I’m not sure why. Perhaps it is because of Mother’s Day, but I guess it doesn’t really matter. I can’t believe you have been gone 36 years. You died when I was 26, so you’ve been gone longer than you… Read More A Belated Mother’s Day Letter
This is part two of my multi-part series on what I have gained from the coronavirus. To read part one, click here. When this all began, I never would have imagined this would be what I’d write about. I feel blessed beyond words to have so much to share. Because so many people are suffering… Read More What I Have Gained From The Virus (Part 2)
It sounds crazy, right? We are all stuck at home, and for many that means home schooling, few – if any – visits to a store, forced to find ways of entertaining ourselves and our families, etc. For those that are single, this means endless time alone, no socialization, and no chance to eat with… Read More What I Have Gained From the Virus (Part 1)
I could never in my wildest dreams imagine a day when I couldn’t walk in Starbucks and sit down with a cup of coffee. The idea that Publix would only allow the purchase of two packages of fresh protein per person – that the store would have empty shelves where toilet paper and paper towels… Read More It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times
Dear Grant, It is a week, almost to the minute, since I texted you to find out if you were joining the conference call we had scheduled with a vendor. Knowing you as I do, there had to be a good reason you weren’t on time. I let the others know that I wanted to… Read More We Only Have This Very Moment
“If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.” Buddha. When I recently saw this on someone’s Facebook page, it stopped me in my tracks. Perhaps this is one of the pieces missing in my life. I’m definitely good to myself… nails, hair, massage, etc. But am I compassionate? Would I say some of the… Read More Being Good to Myself
Dear Dad, Well, here it is again – the 40th Father’s Day without you. As I write this, it feels like I am talking about someone else. You died when I was 21. I remember the first many Father’s Days without you, and they were horrible. The day was spent getting stoned or drunk, trying hard… Read More Not Everyone Gets to Celebrate Father’s Day
Many years ago, my friend Greg Pierce shared that “faith” is an acronym for finding answers in the heart. Rather than looking outside myself for the answers I seek, I only need to look within. Sometimes I remember that, and sometimes emotions overcome me to the point that I am driven by them. The latter… Read More Time and Place