I just returned from a conference, and to get back quicker, I decided to take the redeye. Every time I do this, I regret it because of the disrupted sleep, but there’s something about getting home sooner rather than later.  I was hoping for a whole row to myself but that wasn’t the case. As…

 My son just started a job waitering at a local Mexican restaurant. He also works at a grocery store, but he hadn’t been getting enough hours, and since he needs money for his planned trip abroad next month, he knew he had to find additional employment. The restaurant serves authentic Mexican fare and is decorated…

For the past two weeks, my wife and I sat glued to the television in anticipation of the nightly Olympic recap. In that time, we saw some amazing athletes do some amazing things. We also got to see sports that are rarely covered in the media, like badminton, table tennis, and sport climbing (I was…

 My son was walking out of the house this past weekend with something tucked under his arm. I inquired what it was and he cautiously told me it was a case of poker chips (apparently, he and his friends were going to play cards and watch the UFC fights). I gave him my usual disapproving…

 In the summer of 1518, the city of Strasbourg in France (then part of the Holy Roman Empire) was enjoying a rebirth after many troubling years. The markets were alive, merchants were trading, and the townsfolk were in high spirits, their worries swept away by the promise of a prosperous year. One bright July morning,…

I’m currently at the beach on vacation. The daytime weather has been hot and humid with a slight cooling breeze blowing off the ocean. The nights have been hot as well, but the indoor air conditioning of our rented home is top notch, so sleeping isn’t an issue.  We awoke to dark, threatening clouds this…

I graduated from high school in 1984, and while many things in the world are just the same, many other things are radically different.  First of all, there were no cell phones in 1984. If we wanted to talk to someone on the phone, we either had to be at home or had a dime…

I got into the habit many years ago of asking my son (whenever he was injured) how he rated his pain on a scale from 1 to 10. Inevitably, it was always a 10, but as time passed and he matured, the numbers varied, and the scale became a good gauge for me to discern…

Last week I wrote about my nephew making the decision to get into golf. Having just graduated from college and looking to make his mark on the world, he decided that knowing how to golf would not only be handy in business situations, but also appease his current girlfriend who happens to enjoy the game.…

Growing up, my family always had a corner of the garage reserved for sports equipment. Nothing was new; it was mostly a conglomeration of hand-me-downs that family members had used throughout the years (the majority of it would be considered antiques by today’s standards). I remember a pair of wooden tennis racquets, a few baseball…

The PGA’s U.S. Open was held this past week. The tournament is traditionally considered the hardest test of golf in the calendar year. It is also one of four “majors,” meaning, of all the tournaments on the golf schedule, this is considered the most important, most profitable, and most coveted by the players. If you…

My son just graduated from high school. By my decree, the day after the ceremony, he started his first 40-hour workweek. The goal was not to force him into a career, it was simply my way of immersing him in the reality of what it feels like to be beholden to a job for five…

I drive a black Ford Ranger. It’s a basic truck with few bells and whistles other than heated seats and a cover for the back bed so my golf clubs don’t get wet.  My wife hates trucks and is persistently complaining about my need to own one. My response is always the same: It’s convenient…

My wife and were out shopping recently when we stumbled upon a small concert taking place in a nearby park. It was one of those early evening performances that most cities sponsor throughout the summer months. There were people sitting on blankets in the grass while others had brought beach chairs. A few daring folks…

Vesna Vulovic is a name etched in the annals of miraculous survival — perhaps the most unlikely survival story of all time. She was thrust into the spotlight on Jan. 26, 1972, when she unwittingly became a symbol of human resilience.  A native of Belgrade, Yugoslavia, Vesna’s journey to that fateful day began like that…