My Wake-up Call

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

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...
Learning to Let Go

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

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...
If the Hat Fits…

If the Hat Fits…

I’m writing this on an early Sunday morning on a plane heading over to Albuquerque, NM.   I’ll be speaking at the state HR conference there this week. You might be familiar with Albuquerque from the AMC series Breaking Bad.  I know I am. If you’ve taken any of my...