An Open Letter to My Sons

Dear Jon and Zack,  Maybe it’s because Father’s Day is approaching, but recently I’ve been thinking a little more than usual about your Grandpa, my father. This coming New Year’s Eve will mark the tenth anniversary of his death, and parts of that day are burned into my memory banks as indelibly as a branding…

Get Out The Dustrag!

My older sister (by ten years) Ellen, who died almost five years ago, is buried, in part, in my back yard, along with (again, in part) her two dogs. She loved her dogs and had saved their cremated remains. Ellen’s request to donate her body to a medical school was honored, and when the University…

Bah, humbug!

Christmas is an interesting time of the year for me. I enjoy witnessing, and being part of, the general confusion, especially the closer it gets to December 25. Sitting at my favorite coffee shop, enjoying a break in the day with a hot cup of coffee, I often derive an almost perverse pleasure listening to…