Family Life
Report Card
Friday, May 9th, 2008“Dad, if I miss some homework the last week of school, will I make it into second grade?”
School will be out in a couple more weeks. I wondered where Austin was going with this line of inquiry.
“I think your teacher will let you know if you’re missing any homework. You’re not leaving any in your […]
Poppin’ Peppers
Friday, May 2nd, 2008My family lived in Sierra Leone, West Africa, in the early ’70s serving as missionaries with the Assemblies of God. A popular rice dish of that area relied heavily on a small, red pepper for its kick. Traditionally seasoned “rice chop” was hot enough to break a sweat on your brow within a few bites.
A […]
Footprints
Friday, April 18th, 2008I’m an armchair outdoorsman. The last time I “camped out” was on a frigid November night last year with Austin in our backyard clubhouse. But I subscribed for a year to an outdoor magazine and enjoyed reading about cutting-edge camping equipment and exotic locales.
One of the concepts I encountered was “low-impact camping.” The idea is […]
Ripples
Friday, March 14th, 2008Four people died in a McComb, Miss., bank shooting on Wednesday. The casualties were two bank employees, a customer and the gunman.
The gunman came into the bank shortly after 11 a.m. and opened fire, killing one employee and one customer. He then took the other employee, his ex-wife, and drove away in a truck. He […]
Here, Kitty-Kitty …
Friday, February 29th, 2008She found her way into our garage during a recent winter ice storm, then ran into the house when I opened the door to the garage. She’s been living with us ever since.
After canvassing a stretch of our neighborhood for possible owners, Jodie took Arwen (or Kit-Kat, or Kitty, or whatever—she ignores all names equally) […]
Background Noise
Friday, February 1st, 2008I’m sitting in the lobby of the sports medicine center where my son Connor has physical therapy two days a week. His sessions run the gamut of speech, occupational and physical therapy, all with the goal of battling the effects of cerebral palsy.
The lobby is a good spot to catch up on miscellaneous tasks. Like […]
Buddy Time
Wednesday, January 30th, 2008I have an early morning tradition with our youngest son, Austin. He’s 7, and since he was 4 we’ve spent a lot of mornings getting up before the rest of the family for “buddy time.”
I brew some coffee and pour myself a mug. I heat up some milk for Austin and add enough of my […]
Rock of the Aged
Monday, January 21st, 2008Thursday, December 27, during our family’s Christmas visit to Fort Wayne, Ind., had not yet dawned. But my sleep evaporated around 3 with a pain familiar to a select population of patients who ignore their bodies’ need for adequate hydration.
My right kidney announced its gift of a stone. I began the ordeal of pacing the […]
Ralph
Monday, January 14th, 2008We spent Christmas week in Fort Wayne, Ind., with my wife’s family. As luck, or Providence, would have it, my brother-in-law needed to replace the battery in both of their vehicles the same weekend. He and I made the drive to the local Wal-Mart SuperCenter.
Waiting in line at the auto service desk, I listened to […]
Twister
Tuesday, January 8th, 2008As I type this, tornado sirens across our community are going off. A couple of small twisters have touched down a few miles away.
Our home has a basement, for which I’m grateful. In our previous two homes you had to hunker in an interior closet or bathtub and hope your dog’s name wasn’t Toto. Our […]