The Shock and Tragedy Felt Halfway Around the World

I didn’t know about it until early in the morning on the 12th.
 
And when I saw those images of the towers, the smoke, the fire and the second plane being played over and over again I could not believe what I was seeing. I refused to believe what I was seeing.
 
No, this cannot be happening!
 
It [...]

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Happy Birthday On

Today is your birthday On and I am sorry that I cannot be with you again this year on this most special day.
 
This morning, when I called you early (you had already been up for an hour waiting for me to call) and sang “Happy Birthday” to you, you started to cry. That really choked [...]

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Come Outside Young Brother

Bia wants to see his brother soon
 
Ever since Bia first got a “kick out of his brother Jeremy Aaron” when he put his hands on On’s belly and felt his brother kicking and moving around inside, he’s been quite curious about his soon-to-be-born younger brother according to what On told me about Bia this morning.
 
While [...]

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Buckacre — Country Rock from America’s Heartland

 
When I was a junior and senior at LaSalle-Peru Township High School 1974-1976 most of the kids hip to the local music scene were raving about this band called Buckacre.
 
A country rock band, Buckacre’s music was a cross between Poco and Buffalo Springfield with a bit of the Eagles and maybe [...]

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Tok-jai! * — Bia gets a kick out of his baby brother

*An exclamation in Thai that is often expressed when a person is surprised. Many Thai words like tok-jai are used in Laos.
 
 
Ever since around the fifth month of my fiancée On’s pregnancy—when her son Bia knew something was up because Mom’s belly was getting bigger and bigger—he often would touch her belly and ask her [...]

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Walking Tall — Prepubescent Angst

Something magical and special happened between the summer of sixth grade and seventh grade at Washington Grade School.
 
I kind of sensed something was happening in sixth grade and I think a lot of the other guys had a feeling something was happening too.
 
The girls were, well different. I swear some of them grew two-three inches [...]

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Just a little compassion, please

I believe that a doctor’s bedside manner, in terms of any holistic care and compassion is just as important as any medicine or treatment when helping a patient cope with a serious illness. To be sure, if a doctor cannot maintain a degree of compassion as far as his or her bedside manner goes—commensurate to [...]

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It all started with Archie Comics

When people ask me how I became interested in writing or what was my first publishing credit, I tell them Archie Comics.
 
That’s right, it was Archie Comics and an Archie Fan Club letter that got me started down the literary path.
 
It probably wasn’t how I first became interested in writing because I had already been [...]

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My Mom’s battle with cancer — Three weeks into chemotherapy and radiation treatments

If someone had told me that three weeks into chemotherapy treatment my Mom would be in good spirits I probably would have not believed them.
 
On the other hand, the miracle of prayer and positive thinking makes a lot of things possible.
 
Three weeks into chemotherapy (actually just two chemo treatments; the next treatment is tomorrow) my [...]

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The people who define me — One of my best friends & baseball, football, and political cohorts, Luke McQuade

Yeah Luke, this blog’s for you.
 
(And I swear you look like Alec Baldwin in this photo of you and your daughter!)
 
I have been blessed with a lot—especially the people I have met on this amazing, and sometimes strange journey through life—and although I don’t always get around to saying it, (and personally those people who [...]

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