In Other Words with Dave
I visited an old friend during a recent trip to Orlando, Florida. It had been decades since we’d seen each other. Our meeting place was set: We were to reunite outside the Comic Strip Cafe at Toon Lagoon in Universal Studios. Alright, that’s clear enough; I can handle that. Alison had gently encouraged me over…
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My Daddy My Hero
My father was my childhood hero, a picture of unreserved love. My earliest memory is of Daddy rocking me in a straight back chair, feeling the back and forth, thumping motion while he sang “Bringing In The Sheaves.” With few photos of my childhood, I have little to trigger long ago memories, but many are…
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In Other Words with Dave
Father’s Day, 16 years ago. I opened a gift bag to find a sheet of paper covered in my five-year-old granddaughter Aubrey’s hand-drawn artwork. It was a Father’s Day card accompanied by a questionnaire her teacher helped her complete. Aubrey’s answers painted a portrait that was both wildly inaccurate and surprisingly heartfelt. According to five-year-old…
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Our Story!
On May 29, 2025, my late husband, Carl, will have been in heaven for 14 years. A long time, and I’ve missed him every minute. But I’m thankful for the 45 years we had together and all the wonderful memories we shared. It’s the little things that mean so much in marriage. Day-to-day happenings that…
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In Other Words with Dave
Our hostas are happy, and our creeping phlox is creeping— or phloxing? Whatever the case… Our flowerbeds are hopping with DIY activity and progress. Alison and I make a mulchin’ and plantin’ dream team. As veteran DIY yardscapers, it has taken us years and multiple failed projects to understand our capabilities and limits. Weekend project…
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Taking Flight
Several years ago, back when my children were school age, I hung a decorative wreath on the wall of our front porch to add a little charm. Made of woodsy material with artificial flowers and leaves, it graced our little space well. Then suddenly a bird began fussing at us when we used the front…
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In Other Words with Dave
“I’m not friends with you anymore.” That’s what Alison told Mike, our trainer, after our very first workout session. Things were going fine until we hit lunges— the exercise everyone loves to hate. They target those lower body muscles like glutes and quads, and apparently, they also target Alison’s patience. Luckily, she got over it,…
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Special Wishes and Dreams
April brings a third birthday in heaven for my son, Jay. Two and half years of missing him sing, dance, laugh, tease, hug and call out, “Mom!” And today, I’d like to honor my son with a favorite birthday memory. Jay was born with Down syndrome and congenital heart disease. Year after year, he was…
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In Other Words with Dave
Imagine snapping your forearm as you reach into your mailbox or shattering a few vertebrae during that perfect golf swing. Or simply rolling over in bed and fracturing your ribs. Fractures and bone pain are common ways people discover they have multiple myeloma, a rare blood cancer. The rib fractures happened to me. One minute…
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What I Learned From My Grandmothers!
Someone recently asked me what I learned from my grandmother. Well, I was fortunate to know all four of my grandparents, and that question took me down memory lane. My paternal grandparents lived in a three-room house in the country with no modern facilities. My grandmother still cooked on a wood stove. But that didn’t…
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In Other Words with Dave
Alison and I enjoy scrolling through the news with our morning coffee. A few weeks ago, she was deep into an article about President Jimmy Carter’s remarkable century-long life. She mused aloud, “Wow, 100 years.” I paused mid-sip, equally puzzled and flattered. I gave her a look and asked, “What did you just say?” She…
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