I was not an early adopter of exercise. When I say not an early adopter, I was more of an active dissenter of the whole concept for a couple of decades. My biggest exertion for the first 12 years of my life was walking across the street to get the mail. My mom had to [...]
Did everyone survive Thanksgiving a few pounds heavier but with familial relationships mostly intact? ‘Tis the season for ugly political discussions over the big bird. There’s nothing quite like mixing alcohol, simmering resentments, buttery carbohydrates, and long-term misunderstandings to make for unfortunate dinner conversations featuring raised voices and pounding fists. Here at the CVC, we’ve [...]
Over a drink with some friends the other night, I asked for ideas for this week’s column. One suggested the subject of regret as it pertains to skills your parents attempted to teach you, but you disdainfully waved off at the time. She was particularly disgusted with herself, nigh on these 30 years later, that [...]
If you missed the ads in between the political spots, it's back-to-school time. I have no idea why January, February, and March can’t go by as fast as June, July, and August, but they don’t. It’s a cruel cosmic mystery. My 17-year-old son, Nick, is a senior this year. This is impossible to fathom. I [...]
I’ve recently returned from our youth leadership camp, CampFIRE. Thirty-six incoming high school freshmen from Sheridan and Johnson counties kept Julie, I, and the YMCA camp counselors active and on our toes. It’s a 5-day, 4-night camp up at Camp Roberts above Buffalo, and I am not exaggerating when I estimate that 65-90% of the [...]
I find it mind-blowing that we hosted Thrive vs. Survive Study Circles on Poverty ten years ago. Ten years! My children were ten and seven, my face was unlined, and spare time was a distant dream. Now I have teenagers who drive, I read novels, and our community has Parent Liaisons, a Big Brothers Big [...]
March 31 was a big day for my friend, Sandra. When you read this, she will be one of the few, the proud, the voluntarily retired. I know this because she's been making her friends look at the retirement countdown on her phone daily. Sometimes more than that. And once in a while, we'll even [...]
How many of you are still having dreams, decades later, about classes you didn’t attend until the day of finals when you realize you don’t know where the classroom is or what textbook you should have been reading? Surely not just me. I have some variation on this nightmare at least once a month, and [...]
I just counted them up, and I’ve written around 100 columns since 2011. They started as updates about the CVC’s work and the community. Then they evolved (devolved?) into random stories about my life, heavy on introspection and almost always highlighting my many foibles. Subjects have included everything from my Whole 30 diet success to [...]
I’m telling you right now, I am not a risk-taker. I am a fraidy cat, a wuss, a straight arrow. I didn’t drink in high school. There wasn’t even the contemplation of sneaking out of the house. No illicit substances (other than upside-down screwdrivers and the like) entered my temple of a body during college. [...]
