“Where ya from?” I find myself asking that whenever I talk with people I don’t know. On the opening day of the classes I teach, I naturally ask it as I take attendance for the first time, “Where ya from?” One student is from London, England, another from the Congo, another from Cincinnati. A few …
My windshield wipers were scraping back and forth, trying unsuccessfully to clear the snow now accumulating quicker than the blades could clean that icy debris. I was squinting to make sure I was keeping in the center of my lane. My winter weather muscle memory was kicking in: no jerky movements with the steering wheel, …
Sometimes calendars do more than chart the days and months of any given year. We’re almost a week into this new year. By now, you’ve probably placed your new 2022 calendar on your refrigerator or tucked it away in a desk drawer. Maybe you’re like me and have a variety of calendars. I especially like …
It seemed like the closer Christmas came this year, the more tenuous it became. I was beginning to think all was well, and then the Omicron variant pounced on us. More than 3,000 Christmas Eve flights were canceled globally. In New York City, the Rockettes canceled their Christmas Spectacular. “Hamilton” and “Aladdin” on Broadway paused …
My son, David, was telling me of that moment last week when the nurse handed his newborn baby girl, Stella, to him. His wife, Kayla, had been in labor for hours. I don’t pretend to know what she had been through, but I do know something of the feelings—pride, humility, awe, wonder, and relief— that …