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MARKING TIME WITH A GANG OF MOMS AND KIDS

April 2, 2021 by

I was marking time just the other day with my young kids running around like we were having the best day in our lives. Then they were at the bus stop waiting for their first day of school. I must have blinked. One of the joys of being a parent is seeing kids through their […]

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OLD ENOUGH TO KNOW BETTER? A FAMILY TIMELINE

February 22, 2021 by

Old enough didn’t matter when I bought a switchblade knife in Mexico. I was a twelve year old with my parents on a family car trip. After driving across Texas we stopped in El Paso after the Carlsbad Caves, then a day trip across the border to Juárez. After proudly showing my mom my new […]

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BAD ADVICE FOR GOOD PEOPLE TO IGNORE

January 29, 2021 by

Bad advice usually isn’t life threatening, it just feels like it at first. When it comes from the right person, we follow the advice, good or bad. That habit comes from years of training at the school of ‘Do As I Say, Not As I Do.’ Some bad advice too many followed, are following, will […]

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GRECO ROMAN MEDAL WITH A HAPPY FAMILY

January 23, 2021 by

Greco Roman sounds so classic because that’s what it is, classic. It sounds old, like Greek City-State and Roman Empire old. Way the heck back there. In the sports world, Greco Roman is a particular style of wrestling, not an architectural element. It’s for athletes who don’t want to get tangled up in someone’s legs, […]

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WORDS: FREEDOM’S JUST ANOTHER WORD? NO, NO IT’S NOT

January 15, 2021 by

Words change with age. For a few years I lived next to a quirky neighbor. Sound familiar? Most folks have either had one, or been one. I was already there when he moved in, a ripped muscle-man with a crewcut. ‘Great,’ I thought, I’ve got either a policeman neighbor, or a gym kook. Either way […]

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VIRTUAL VOLUNTEER MAKES AN OFFER TO REFUSE

October 12, 2020 by

What is a virtual volunteer? My wife and I were making quiche together. She seemed a little down. Earlier she’d asked me to bring the Halloween decorations tote downstairs. It struck me as an irony to decorate for a hands on holiday in the coronavirus era. I shared the feeling. No wonder she seemed a […]

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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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BROTHER CHECK IN: WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SAY

August 27, 2020 by

A Facebook friend posted about a brother check, or check-in. Apparently he’s got lots of brothers, or he was using the inclusive ‘brother’ to remind everyone to check in with their loved ones during the corona virus pandemic. If you have a brother, a sister, or anyone you care about, what do you want to […]

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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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APOLOGIZE NOW THAT YOU’VE HAD TIME TO THINK

May 26, 2020 by

Apologize now? For what? Who hasn’t had some regret during the coronavirus quarantine? Maybe a little remorse? If that’s you, then it’s time to apologize now. Start early and bring it up to speed.

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