Apr
07
2022
Dad thought outside the box as a basketball coach and had insightful ways to keep students engaged. He believed deeply in the idea of love as the centerpiece of learning and, as a coach and educator, worked to find...
Apr
06
2022
Dad and I struggled with thin skin at times. We love people and want to be loved. Dad often encouraged me to have tough skin with a soft heart. I wrote down his advice. He told me don’t assume...
Apr
05
2022
Dad and I loved Francis of Assisi. He is one of my favorite people. One of the quotes I love is, “Start by doing what is necessary; then do what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” I...
Apr
04
2022
I love to ask why. I spoke to Dad in person or on the phone every day, and my favorite thing was to ask him his opinion on the inner machinations of marriages, teams, and people. Why did this...
Apr
01
2022
When I was in high school, my Dad began to play April Fool’s jokes which were never quite funny to anyone but him. We tried to say that hiding someone’s wallet or pouring cold water on them didn’t count...
Mar
31
2022
As I plan for Dad’s Celebration of Life, the person helping me organize the décor told me that because the stage is large, she imagined we could make it like a garden and asked if my Dad liked gardens....
Mar
30
2022
One day, I was wiping down the bathroom sink. Focused and intensely absorbed in my work, I didn’t hear my oldest daughter Natalya come into the room. She came up behind me and hugged me. Her hand rested on...
Mar
29
2022
Dad and I liked to play solitary card games while racing against each other. Our favorite was kings in the corner. These games are addictive—just one more game. March Madness can have a sense of addiction and a tinge...
Mar
28
2022
Years ago, one of our dear friends had a church interview to lead a small group, and it had a level of harshness that surprised us all. She relayed the woman didn't ask open-ended OR meaningful questions but interrogative...
Mar
25
2022
Today is my middle daughter Ariana’s birthday. She has the last birthday in four weeks of March birthdays to celebrate in our family. When she was four months old, she stopped gaining weight. She looked wan and sickly. I...
