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RAW EMOTIONS: HELLO AND GOODBYE, AIRPORT VS HOSPITAL

October 29, 2021 by

Raw emotions, unrehearsed moments of reality, happen in two places: The airport and the hospital. That’s where hello and goodbye emotions live that no one plans for. A hospital visit turns into a gut wrenching ordeal. An airport drop-off turns into the saddest day ever. Is there anything to do to prepare for this? No, […]

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MISSING PARTS AND WHERE TO FIND REPLACEMENTS

April 22, 2021 by

When I was a kid I had a high school aged uncle who liked to build model cars with missing parts. He didn’t play any sports. I glued model cars together, too. The box of plastic pieces all linked together became a Buick Wildcat. No paint, nothing special, just following directions and putting it together. […]

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GREAT MEMORIES ADVICE: FROM ONE LIFE STAGE TO THE NEXT

March 8, 2021 by

Great memories ought to inform current decisions. After all, if you have great memories you cherish, why not add to them? Moving along life’s stages, from one to the next, from being a kid, to teenager, to young adult, to middle age, to senior, fills up a big wagon of memories to pull along. Did […]

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HOMEWARD BOUND, I WISH I WERE

January 10, 2021 by

Homeward bound? I’m home, not sitting in a railway station with a ticket for my destination, but I would be if I screwed up and my family found out. I’ve got a wife and two kids, two boys now men, who have never cut me any slack. All three are accomplished ass-kickers and mine would […]

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HOW SECOND BORN KIDS MAKE THEIR MARK

October 27, 2020 by

Being a second born myself, I know how to make a mark. Call it a mark, a scar, it’s something to be remembered by. I’m sure it’s different with girls, and the mix of brothers and sisters, but my mix was all boys for the first fourteen years. The first, then fourteen months later the […]

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BOOMERPDX INTERVIEW: ONE VETERAN, ONE STUDENT, ONE PARENT

September 10, 2020 by

A faux-BoomerPDX interview works to paint a citizenship picture, a mosaic, by covering nervous subjects. For this edition it’s a veteran, a student, and a parent doing the work. And they have plenty to say. Take a read:

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TASKMASTER: WHY FINISHING A TASK FEELS SO GOOD

August 30, 2020 by

A taskmaster assigns work for others. In a marriage, that person is the husband, or wife. If two people are lucky enough to have kids, finishing tasks set a good example. Kids who take up the idea that a finished project feels good make their parents proud. But where does it start? How does it […]

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AGING PARENT PROTESTS GETTING OLD

July 22, 2020 by

An aging parent is the hardest part for kids growing up. We like them in their prime years, when they could do anything, and did. The part the kids never understand is how long we get to be an aging parent.

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FATHER’S DAY INSPECTION

June 21, 2020 by

This is a Father’s Day inspection I’m glad I didn’t see as a kid. My dad is the guy with the sword. A sword?

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STAYING GUN SILENT IS NOT MY STRONG SUIT

August 5, 2019 by

The idea of gun silent goes against the grain. Guns are not silent, just the opposite. The only gun silent people I know are gun people who share the idea that the only person who needs to know if they have a gun will know. They aren’t into the show and tell, the technical talk, […]

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