I’m back. And boy, does it feel good. It’s been 42 days since I was rushed to the hospital for a 5-hour emergency surgery. It was not fun. The days that followed in the hospital were not fun. The first couple weeks recuperating at home were not fun. Then the magic began to …
He felt lonely, desperate and afraid. It was 6:30 a.m., and the young man had collapsed in the broom closet of his tiny office. Sweaty and awake since 4, he had already consumed a quart of vodka. Suddenly, the outer door of the office opened. A single set of footsteps moved …
I’d like to tell my older friends it’s okay to feel a bit confused when attempting to use the latest gadgets. I’m blessed. I work around a bunch of young techies who can guide me through the magic of new tools. I hand them my computer or “smart-aleck” phone and …
Here’s a fun way to bring a spring back in your step. Ask yourself, what was your most embarrassing moment in your past? How significant is it now? I’ve had a whole bunch of embarrassing moments, but the one that stands out most was at the end of my sophomore year at …
One of the greatest gifts I received as a kid was my stuttering talent. At times I could not get out a single word, much less a coherent sentence or two. It drove my loving father, Vern, nuts. He’d counsel me, “Don, think about what you want to say before you begin to …
In a big, Chicago-area high school, I was best known as the little brother of Kelly Kuhl. That suited me just fine. It opened up doors for me and allowed me to ask pretty girls for dates. It gave me recognition before I earned it. Kelly is two years older than me. …
Some good ideas I’ve learned over time. I mean decades and decades of time. If I had been a quicker, brighter student, I might have succeeded earlier in my professional career and not struggled as much in my personal life. Here is one of my personal secrets (which the …
A good friend of mine from high school shared the story behind Robert Frost’s famous poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.” Frost had been working on another poem all night that hadn’t panned out. At sunrise, invigorated by his efforts, his most famous poem came to him …
My guess is, I spend more time looking for my phone than using it. It probably saves me some bucks but adds to my frequent frustration. Where might my phone be? What pair of pants did I have on last night? Was I wearing a jacket? I’ll bet it fell out of my pocket when I …
After writing over 400 blog posts on aging, I thought it was time for me to explore why I write a blog in the first place. It often takes me time and is accompanied by some angst. Other bloggers may be naturals. I am not. It’s not that the ideas do not flow. My head …
