My mom played a cool trick on me when I was a little boy. She would pretend she couldn’t get a jar of peanut butter open and then ask me to give it a shot. To my joyous surprise, I was able to get the lid off every time. I took this special talent into …
“The wisest men follow their own direction.” – Euripides As I get older, I have a harder time following directions received from others. And it’s not working out for me. If I buy something in a box that claims it can be assembled in five easy steps, I think, “How …
Looking back on my high school football career, I could have been a great player. Only a couple things stood in my way. First off, I didn’t like to get tackled. And I wasn’t fond of tackling others. It came down to not wanting to put myself in a position to experience an …
What’s the most important message I ever received? It was from Augie, my clumsy guardian angel, who chose to join me on a hike to Virginia City. Augie thinks he knows so much more than I do, and at times, he can be a bit self-righteous – but I guess angels have their …
“How did I get so late, so soon?” That’s one of my favorite lines from Dr. Seuss. Some days I feel like I’m behind on almost everything – and I’m getting too old for that. At weak moments, I allow others’ expectations to wreak havoc on my serenity. Tick tock, tick tock, Don …
Frank Tate – the kindest, brightest man I’ve ever known – was born in Tuscola, Illinois, in 1916. He died comfortably, peacefully, in Carson City, Nevada, on Dec. 24, 2004. His final words to me were, “Don, quit fussing over me and get about your duties.” Frank was an …
My efforts at meditation aren’t going so well. I recently read about the benefits of meditation – particularly for people my age – but I don’t seem to be mindful enough while attempting to meditate. First off, I thought meditation and mindfulness were kind of the same thing. …
Two mentors of mine are Tony and Gordo. I talk to them when I’m in a bind. Sometimes I have an issue in my personal life. Other times it’s a corporate crisis, and I can’t determine the right course of action. Tony’s an old guy with a bony finger he sticks in my …
“We’re all old people in training.” – Joanne Lynn, MD My hunch is, most people don’t think about the ramifications of getting to be an older person until reality smacks them in the face. I still don’t think I’m an old guy – but age is creeping up on me. And sometimes, …
My dad’s dad, Hank, died in 1932, 13 years before I was born. A year before my dad died in 1999, I asked him to journal about Hank. To my surprise, he did. Here are tidbits of a few of his wonderful stories. “In the spring of ’25, an airplane flew over the schoolhouse, and …