Over the years, I have had my share of interaction with doctors, hospitals, nurses and other medical personnel. Whether it be regular visits, hospitals for surgery or emergency situations, each and every event brought its own level of anxiety that is often not recognized by the professional taking care of you. I understand that many medical personnel are overworked, have to deal with unruly and rude patients and experience days that go much longer than the average person. However, it is in those moments that we are dealing with our own anxiety… Read More

Have you ever had one of those days, or weeks for that matter, that nothing seems to go right? As hard as you try to get yourself out of the mire, you can’t quite seem to shake it. Then you look at your calendar and suddenly realize that you have a date scheduled with one of your friends. All of a sudden the mood starts to shift. Finally, when you get in their presence and the evening begins the troubles of the week start to melt away. There are people in our… Read More

When I was a kid, one of my favorite times of the year was Labor Day Weekend. It was the one time of year when I got to stay up all night to watch the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon. I would watch it from the beginning on my little black and white TV in my room and see it all the way through to the end when the final tote board would show what had been raised for the year. I was always amazed at how each and every year they… Read More

They always say after the death of a loved one that there are signs that happen so that you know they are there and still with you. For me, with the loss of my grandmother, there are two ways that remind me that she will always be there. Maybe they are in my mind or my imagination, but they are the things that center me and keep me sane when times are craziest. My grandmothers favorite bird was a cardinal and her favorite color was red. Within weeks after she passed away… Read More

Yesterday, I went with my dad for his first chemo appointment. It was an experience to say the least in so many ways. As we sat in a room with so many people getting IV infusions, my mind began to wonder and I of course began to think. As I looked around the room at all the empty chairs that I knew would soon be filled, I began to think of the lives that would occupy each one of them. One by one people came in and after a while it became… Read More

When weekends come, it is usually time for us to get together with friends and family and enjoy all the things that we like to do. We work all week and then use those two short days to unwind, catch up and hopefully just have fun. This weekend, I was thinking that no matter how old we are, people come into our lives unexpectedly and for one reason another they become an integral part of your life..for life. Many think that this happens by chance. However if you really sit down and… Read More

Our world has gotten so complicated with all the technological advancements, that it is hard sometimes for those that are in our middle ages not to think of our childhood days with fondness and longing. Days when excitement meant the family was planning on getting together and doing what we always did in the great outdoors.  My time in the mountains over the last week brought a lot of wonderful memories back to light. Our family was always close. When we all got together for a big event, usually at a lake… Read More

Last week, I had the opportunity to cross another item off my bucket list and go white water rafting on the Truckee River in Nevada. It was something that I had wanted to do for a very long time, but the occasion never presented itself and it wasn’t something that I actively sought out. However, given that I was doing stops in California and Nevada, I decided that the time had finally come. The night before the event I was excited and full of questions. I read reviews on the internet, researched… Read More

I was traveling throughout several states last week and had the opportunity to interact with a lot of different people in the service industry. This involved hotels, cars, restaurants, museums and all kinds of places. One thing that really stood out to me is that most service people are generally, inherently nice as long as you are nice to them. The good service, warm conversation and often free things we got by just being ourselves and being pleasant make you wonder just what other kind of people service personnel are dealing with… Read More

Our down time over the last week was much needed and I appreciate your patience with my previous posts during that time. It is really good to be back with you all as I really missed my daily interactions with you. While the last week was nice to be away, we unfortunately got some news that my father has a rare type of lymphoma and will soon start chemotherapy. This came as quite a shock as he had no symptoms and it simply appeared on a blood test. Going through this experience,… Read More