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The Morning After

It’s Wednesday morning, November 3, 1976, and I walk my 12-year-old self into the kitchen to hear my parents talking happily. That means a lot.  Normally, it’s constant arguing. They are celebrating the results of the presidential election between Gerald Ford and...

The Power of Stories

It's 2:10 pm and I'm out for a walk in the woods.  I haven't had lunch yet.  In fact, I haven't eaten since yesterday. Then, just when I thought I would go hungry again, I spy a bush with some delicious-looking berries hanging off the branches.  They are red, soft,...

Hanging in the Balance

Work/Life balance is a fallacy.  And yet, we try to prove otherwise on a regular basis. Once upon a time, there was work/life separation.  You came to work, did your job, and went home. Technology changed all that.  With technology, there was never a need to unplug. ...

My Wake-up Call

It’s 1:05 PM on a hot August afternoon and I’m racing to get home. I have a 1:30 Zoom call, my dogs have been outside in their kennel since 6:15 AM and I need to get them out of the heat and into the house.  Plus, I really need to pee. Earlier that day, I did two,...

Just Do It

It’s 0500 on a rainy Winter Monday morning in 1998 and I’m sitting in my car in the clinic parking lot at the Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, WA.  I’m waiting to board the van that will be driving me, the Commanding Officer Captain Jon Berude, Command Master Chief Kathy...

The Invisible Man

In 2014, when I turned 50, I was given a superpower. I didn’t realize what it was at the time, but soon it became very clear. Suddenly, it seemed, I became invisible.  Truly.  Where before when I would walk through crowds, people would make eye contact.  When I...

Learning to Let Go

It’s 2:00pm on a sweltering afternoon in Columbus, Ohio and I feel nothing.  And that bothers me. I’m winding down the process of getting our son checked in as a freshman at The Ohio State University.  It’s an absolute circus.  There are multiple lines to stand in,...

A Tale of Two Grandmas

When I got the call in 1994, long distance from my mom while stationed on the island of Guam, I was crushed.  Just a week before, my grandma had called me out of the blue for no reason.  Just to say hello.  And now my mom told me she was gone. Jean Stanczyk, who I...

The Day We Grow Up

21 Jan 1983 is a date I’ll always remember.  21 Jan was the day I went to the Military Enlistment Processing Station (MEPS) in Los Angeles to take a physical, fill out a mountain of paperwork, and finally swear into the Delayed Entry Program (DEP) of the United States...

Cracker Barrel, Gilligan’s Island, and You

My favorite restaurant of all time is NOT the Cracker Barrel.  In fact, Cracker Barrel might just be my least favorite place to eat. Why? It’s nothing but comfort food that is anything but. Everything is fried.  If they could fry water, it would be served to you. The...