As a ten-year-old boy, being told that I threw a ball like a girl was the ultimate insult. Adolescents can be cruel with their verbal barbs. For a young pubescent male, doing anything “like a girl” was akin to being called a sissy. But today, a phrase like “Fight Like A Girl” carries a new … Continue reading Fight Like A Girl
It’s no joke. Laughter is good for you. A good laugh feels good, but it actually has many positive physical benefits. It’s a great form of stress relief, stimulates internal organs as you breathe in oxygen-rich air, and it spurs the brain to release endorphins. And endorphins are a good thing. The list goes on … Continue reading Dancing in the Rain – Part 2: The Joy of Living and Laughing
Laughter can be good medicine…if not for the body, surely for the soul. And thankfully so, for life has its moments when a good laugh is a desperate need. For me, embarrassing moments have become more than a reflective chuckle but entertaining fodder for future family tales around the fireplace. “Let me tell you what … Continue reading Dancing in the Rain – Part 1 – Laughing at Life’s Most Embarrassing Moments
A recent conversation with my wife inspired me to write the following summary of that verbal exchange. I titled it, Pitching a Fit. Pitching a Fit My wife bought a Fitbit. Then a smart-scale to link to it. Now, a Fitbit, says she, I am to git. In our budget, says I, it may not … Continue reading Pitching a Fit
It was 1999, and my wife (Tootie) and I were looking forward to retirement. At 48, all five of our children had left home. Though our golden years were still over a decade away, our nest was empty, and we relished the next season of “our time.” For some couples, the empty nest season may … Continue reading Retirement 103 – Can A Marriage Survive the Retirement Years?
Any Southern man worth his grits can spot a woman not native to the Southland. Her dress, her demeanor, or her dialogue will give her away. I considered it a gift from God to have grown up in the American South. Needless to say, when I started dating again after being a widower for several … Continue reading Living Southern – When Your Wife Is Not
I sometimes wonder if there is a common misconception among married women that a husband sitting quietly, deep in thought, must be either upset or up to no good. Seeing the studious look upon my countenance one recent morning, my wife asked, “Is everything ok?” Wanting to quickly dispel any notion that I might be … Continue reading The Manly Art of Pondering
It is a marital truth known by all women and romantically challenged men that a husband who gives a toaster/electric can opener/pool table/vacuum cleaner to his wife as a Christmas gift should first be sure he is ok being relegated to sleep on the living room couch that night. So you can imagine my shock … Continue reading I Gave My Wife a Vacuum Cleaner for Christmas…and Lived to Tell About It.
Christmas is a time to make memories, and hopefully, the kind of memories that still make you laugh, giggle and smile sixty years later. Unless it was the Christmas of 1986, when “Santa” had the bright idea to leave all his Christmas gifts in one 10 foot long black plastic bag so that our family … Continue reading If It’s Eggrolls, It Must Be Christmas
Grief shouts the loudest during holidays. Following the loss of a loved one, those left behind must navigate a minefield of emotions during those first holidays without their beloved. And who wants to talk about such a gloomy subject at a time like Christmas? For most of my adult life, grief was never an … Continue reading The Great Musician’s Birthday
