I recently had the pleasure of running into an old friend.  We were casually chatting, catching up on life’s adventures, when she mentioned that her youngest son had gone off to college last fall.  “Oh,” I surmised, “You’re an empty nester now.”  She corrected me, “No, we’re free birds.” (more…)

More than once I’ve made attempts to follow the tradition of making a new year’s resolution.  “Resolve to exercise.”  “Resolve to lose weight.”  “Resolve to floss teeth.”  Yea, right.  Has anyone actually succeeded with these clichéd goals?  I might as well have spit in the wind.  By Valentine’s day, my New Year’s resolutions were long forgotten. (more…)

There’s a simple transition that we make every single day.  It’s one we hardly notice at all, that is, until it no longer happens easily. . . falling asleep.  Ah yes, that happy journey over the edge of consciousness, drifting gracefully into dream land.  And yet, when I’m in the grips of insomnia, this nightly sojourn proves to be more difficult than trekking the Himalayas. (more…)

This Friday I will address a group of high school seniors about stress management.  It’s an interesting challenge for me and one I’ve been thinking about all week. As I look back to my own senior year in high school, it stands out as one of the most stressful periods of my life. (more…)

He slid down the final three stairs, his four furry legs splayed beneath him.  He landed on the floor with a groan and a humph.  Poor Hickory!  My 12 year old golden retriever has lived a remarkably healthy, veterinarian-free life.  His only sickness now is his advancing age.  The last time he stood at the top of the stairs looking down the long wooden decline, he whimpered, shook and refused to give it a go.  Dan carried his 75 pound body down the stairs in what has since become known as “Hickory’s last stand.” (more…)