As we were cleaning out one of our closets this past week I came across this poem that Brian wrote when he was nine years old. Hope you like it. The little baby lies in the hay While people are waiting for Mary to say This is Christ our savior, he is finally born Born …
Three years!
Some things are easier to say in a poem. Christmas Eve is when you went Just yesterday, time so quickly spent It’s been three years since you’ve gone away And yet I see you every day Not just your picture up on the wall But in everyday things both big and small I see you …
Thanksgiving
As this weekend comes to an end I will confess that my thoughts have been consumed by family and by my Brian. This is a time of mixed emotions. This was Brian's most favorite time of the year. He loved Thanksgiving and the days around this holiday. He enjoyed so many of the things that …
Opiod emergency, change the narrative
Today I was reminded of something that happened when Brian was about 11 years old. We were living in Hamburg Germany and it was the Christmas season. If you've ever been in Germany around Christmas it is a truly festive time. They have these wonderful Christmas markets and we were taking advantage of Hamburg's biggest …
Talking about death
Last weekend, on Saturday, we went to celebration of life for Eric, a man who was clearly loved by many. He lost his battle with cancer. At the celebration we talked with a young lady we had met once before. She was very close to Eric and it was clear that she was hurting deeply. …
Living intentionally
This past Saturday we went to celebration of life for a young man named Eric who was clearly loved by many. He lost his battle with cancer. He was diagnosed with cancer and less than a year later he died. It makes me wonder what kind of strength it takes to face our inevitable end. …
Dreams
As parents we have such grand dreams for our children. We want them to succeed in everything they attempt. Not just succeed, we want them to excel. We want them to find meaning and purpose in those dreams. The challenge we have is accepting their dreams and not imposing ours. When Brian was 6 we …
Have I told you lately that I LOVE you??
Another funeral today. An old buddy of mine. He was a phenomenal man and much to young to leave us. He died very unexpectedly, here one day gone the next. It was a nice ceremony and I was struck by one of the comments from his best fishing buddy. The last time they went fishing, …
Conversation
We hear it every day how "social" media is destroying the art of conversation. I don't think there is any denying this trend and each of us experiences the shallowness of a tweet, a bullet thought, routinely. Humanity and the human experience is rich with wonder and adventure. To limit discussion thereof to just a …
Running Away
In life there will be times when we wished we were any place else except where we are at that very moment. I have had those times but in this instance, in this fog, in this pain I don't want to. In fact I find myself running head first into the crisis. It's a strange …
No such thing as a simple Rhyme
Brian really enjoyed rap. He rhymed and rhymed. He wrote lyrics which proved to be quite complex. The thing I never truly appreciated and may still have wrong is that rap is the story of experience. At times it combines fantasy but fundamentally it talks of life and one's journey through life. I always wondered …
The Wake
This past week I heard a radio show that discussed celebrations of life. There was a suggestion that it marginalized the gravity of death. I'm not sure that anyone could marginalize the death of a child. Nonetheless it gave me cause to pause and think. I reflect back on what motivated us to have a …
Pain
James 1: 2-4 - Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. For the past 30 years I have been in pain, physical pain. …
Friendship, a big hug.
I get to talk with people about Brian, not as often as would like but I savor the opportunities I do have. I find that many people, while mostly at a loss for words, are genuine. My worst encounter was a few months after Brian died when I was sitting in the office of someone …
Steamrolled —– you can’t stop life
It was mid-January 2015. We were three or four weeks from Brian's death. It was a cold January and it seemed that it was always dark. I was back at work but, would try and get in really early so I could be alone for the first two or three hours. I just couldn't face …
We’re not alone!!
Today I was reminded more than once that we are not alone. Not alone in our good times and definitely not alone in our bad. We're not wired to out live our kids or have a brother or sister die. Likewise we are not wired to do something this difficult alone. I will confess that …
The Fragility of Life
This week has been sad. An 18 year old boy from our church, who was due to graduate from high-school this past Tuesday died in a car accident on Saturday. Then in the early hours Tuesday, a 23 year old Marine that I work with died in a car accident. Both these young men had …
Each and every day
I wake from a restless sleep, sounds like someone came up the front steps, it’s just after 1 AM, must be Brian hope he had a good evening, I pray: Lord keep and protect him, I fall back to sleep. It’s 5:30 AM as I come down the stairs there’s a lump on the couch, …
First blog post
This is the excerpt for your very first post.
Beautiful Blue Sky 