I rarely, if ever repeat a blog, but I am compelled to do so because, although posted 6 weeks ago, it is even more relevant and poignant today.   The blog was entitled Typhoid Mary and went as follows:   "Her name was Mary Mallon and she was a rich man's cook in the early 20th century.   Trouble was that she was an asymptomatic carrier of Typhoid Fever.   She denied being "sick" all her life, but she was caught up in the conflict between public health and individual r...

The current issue of The New Yorker arrived at our home the other morning. As is our practice, we allow our mail to “sit” for a day or so before handling it. The cover - see the picture - just stared at us from its perch on the floor.A picture we felt compelled to share.And when we picked up the magazine, we learned that thepainting on the cover is titled “Distant Summer” by the artist Gadir Nelson.As we anticipate this month of July - with its heat, displaced plans, and mult...

Picture this midwest evening.... 5 nieces and nephews, sitting in the back of my son’s pick-up truck, watching the sun go down; playing a little Kenny Chesney in the background, whilst the deep voices of the bullfrog weigh into the conversation. Sweet, right!? Evidence of a frisbee toss, badminton gone bad, and silly wiffle golf ball tosses, aimed at each other, admit our demonstration of family love and of our competitive nature with one another. Deep chats, belly laughte...

  One of my partners was in the office last week. I have to admit I was jealous. Seeing her on Zoom sitting at her desk made me want to be sitting in my office right next door. We have decided to reopen slowly and so I know that I will not have the experience of sitting next door for a little while – but still. She indulged me and toured around with her phone, showing us all of the new partitions and safety items. Then, because I asked her to, she walked right into my o...

  For months my husband and I have anticipated this. We have discussed this back and forth, imagining what it would look like. And, like everything else you anticipate as much as we have, it happened very differently than expected. I am talking about eating in a restaurant.       On Saturday night, we took a ride on our friend’s boat. It was just my husband and I and the couple who owned the boat, so we were able to stay socially distant. The plan was that we would head to a...

The title represents one of two relevant song titles I considered after deciding on this blog. You see I had another topic in mind – another discussion – perhaps another day, certainly another blog. When I retired for Friday eve, I opted to bring the laptop upstairs to leave on the dining room table for easy outside deployment yesterday. The laptop allows me to deploy the larger external monitor that, in many ways represents the outside office covered in some of my prior blog...

This past week marked my Mom's 90th birthday. My sister and I were so happy we could see her. Until that point, no one was allowed in the assisted living center where she resides so it was a game time decision whether we could see her or not. Thankfully, we were good to go.   I asked her how old she thought she was but she did not know. When I told her she was 90, she looked at me with that incredulous look I remember growing up. Every time I did something she didn't approve...

This blog is written with my wife Joanne’s permission because, at times, she is forgetful and relies on me to remind her of things. We good naturally refer to this practice as her short term Rent-A-Memory and it is my pleasure!I still have lots of room in my memory bank and I remember much. I awakened to Jackie Robinson’s earth shaking/game changing debut in 1947 and others that followed such as Mohammed Ali, Tommy Smith, Curt Flood and Colin Kaepernick. I remember the Brown ...

I’m not sure how many times I’ve seen the statue of Teddy Roosevelt in the front of the Museum of Natural History in New York City. The statue that is now being taken down.I first saw it as a child on one of the many trips I was taken on to the Museum. More recently, I passed it with a grandchild that I was taking to the Museum.I must have been exposed to so many other statues, works of art and symbols that must now be re-examined. More difficult will be the necessary process...

Here we go! My one and only, amazing son and I are taking a 12 hour road trip to visit family in Illinois. Just he and I, the open road, snacks and lots of conversation. Many years ago, 19 or so, I placed my son in the backseat of my car at 9pm and drove through the night, peaking into the Chicago skyline at about 5am the next day. We arrived at Mom’s by 7am and Patrick was ready to play. The drive feels much more daunting than I remember. Jumping into the car, driving acro...

I think about my father all the time. He was one special guy. Fiercely loyal to his family, smart, honest, and hard working. I think about how our lives, and in particular my mom’s, would be different if he were still with us. And, I think about the things that were quirky and unique to him. He danced in a special way that as a family we often imitated. We would be at a party with music playing and someone would yell “Do the Poppy”. He loved that. He saw good in the wor...

  During this quarantine, it always lifted my spirits to have a Zoom or Skype conference call and “see” people. Even if those calls were necessitated through work, seeing other people always added a smile to my day. Now with the nicer weather and things opening up a bit it has been nice to see people-- other than those in my quarantine group-- in person.       Last week, I met a friend for an early morning walk on the boardwalk. Even though we have been speaking regularly...

Once again I get to take advantage of a Sunday blog gig falling on a day where we give thanks; this time to our dads (I even qualify for this one.). Let me start with a tradition I started sharing a wonderful song for this special day by current Poco bassist and vocalist Jack Sundrud.   After my morning coffee outside (See spot in pice at left.).  We plan to celebrate with a BBQ, our usual tradition. Last year at this time, my daughter lived a coast away; this year she’s home...

My office has been back up and running for over a week now. It's feels somewhat normal because we are all there...of course with appropriate physical distancing, masks, wipes, sanitizer and a cool looking sign on our front door stating you must wear a mask when entering.   I missed the interaction, impromptu meetings between staff to discuss marketing issues The colloboration is priceless. Although, it is wierd to to have a company meeting on Zoom while we are all in the offi...

One the easiest, yet most positive things a person can do is just say Thank You!Not “no problem”,  just a heart felt expression of appreciation and gratitude. Say it.  It rolls off your tongue easily: Thank You!I recently was the beneficiary of 2 such expressions of gratitude and they felt SO good.  I did not expect them and they really were not necessary, but they felt SO good!“You’re welcome“ just doesn’t measure up as a response.  Does one say Thank You for your Thank you?...