Growing Old, Gracefully.
Stories that help you find peace, hope, and happiness.
Don’s Most Recent
Jacob
As a young, ambitious chap, I managed the Four Winds Motel on West Colfax in Denver while also starting a statewide sports magazine. The motel owner was an 80-year-old man named Jacob. He was a tough businessman and taught me important lessons I never learned at the Ramada …
Have it your way
When I’d mess up in my private or business life, I learned to find someone who was doing it right and copy his or her successful approach. It helped me out of jams over and over again. In Reno, on South Virginia Street, there are two fast food restaurants across the street …
Teddy’s advice
I’ve had one quote on my wall for over 30 years. It’s Theodore Roosevelt’s famous lines comparing the “critic” to the “doer.” It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit …
FIRE!
The fire spread through Washoe Valley, hopping from tree to tree, jumping over highways and attacking homes, barns and businesses. The Holy Spirit Catholic Mission burned to the ground, leaving only a five-foot statue of the Virgin Mary in its wake. The north wind headed the …
Listen softly
My ears were itching. I took out my hearing aids and slipped them into my shirt pocket. Hours later, I put my shirt in the hamper. That night, Sherry did the laundry. My hearing aids came out clean, dry and useless. I experienced a week of dull sound. No birds chirping. No …