Parenting
A Christmas Present
Mary Katherine was petrified and she wasn’t going anywhere. “Mary Katherine, your team needs you, come on sweetheart, I know you can do this.” She shook her head no. She was wringing her hands and beads of sweat had bubbled up on her forehead and upper lip. Yet I was certain that if she would … Continue reading
Kid Stuff
This essay originally appeared in the September 2002 issue of Smithsonian Air & Space Magazine The Beechcraft King Air 200 has shut down; the passengers disembarked and as the pilots are walking away I whisper into my 4-year-old son’s ear “Wave at the pilots”. It works like a charm. One of the pilots walks … Continue reading
Give this app a Spin
My Mom was ready to go back to work. After raising five kids in a 2,000 square foot home she desperately missed the peace and serenity of being a surgical nurse in a busy downtown hospital. As soon as one of us could drive and one could cook, she bought a new stethoscope, starched her … Continue reading
The Inscrutable Mind of a 14 Year-Old Boy
We have a guest bathroom in our house. It’s on the first floor, just a small bathroom with a toilet, sink, a mirror and some decorative sconces filled with dried flowers on either side of the mirror. There’s no room in that bathroom for toiletries because it’s a guest bathroom, for guests, and you wouldn’t … Continue reading
Chipmunk City
A story for my daughter’s Third Grade class We have a lot of Chipmunks in our yard and I mean a lot of chipmunks. Every time I open the front door there are three or four hanging out on the porch and there are always six or seven of those little furry guys running around our back … Continue reading
Tell me again why I didn’t join the Air Force?
I’m not sure why I never became a fighter pilot because when I was a kid that is all I dreamed of becoming. From the ceiling that my brother Tommy and I shared hung models of every fighter plane imaginable dating from World War 1. P-51D’s shared airspace with Fokker Triplanes and F- 101 Voodoo’s. … Continue reading
The Greatest Voice on Earth
When our restaurant was open, my cooks could listen to whatever they wanted to on the radio. Punk, Country, Speed Metal, Top 40, didn’t matter to me so long as they were happy and getting the job done. I never complained either, occasionally I may have commented on a certain lead singer’s ability to carry … Continue reading
Put Down That Popcorn!
My Dad loved the underdog. Dad watched a lot of sports and he always rooted for the smaller or shorter team. He loved reading about cops that performed heroic deeds, pilots that happened to be amputees and flew with a prosthetic leg or small town attorneys that won big cases. My Dad’s love of the … Continue reading
Seeing Ghosts
When I was much younger I fought and was wounded in several wars, worked in one of the most important aircraft factories in the country, travelled into outer space, won a world championship in cycling, and rescued not one but two beautiful brunettes from hardened criminals. I still have their lipstick stains on my collar … Continue reading
