Daddy Dearest

My mom likes to tell a story about my first day at school. Always a Momma’s boy (to this day), I was less than thrilled to enter the hallowed halls of Beth Yeshurun Day School.  As I sobbed uncontrollably and tears poured down my face, Principal Peggy Samet greeted us […]

“How Sweet It Is!!!”  That was the famous catchphrase of legendary announcer Gene Peterson that Houston basketball fans heard through the years during Rockets broadcasts, including the championship seasons of 1994 and 1995. I grew up at the Summit (later Compaq Center) as my family owned Rockets season tickets before […]

I woke up on the morning after (actually the morning after the morning after) and felt the need to write you a note. For the past year or so, you have been a frequent Facebook poster about Donald Trump, and I have respected your passion, enthusiasm and optimism about the […]

I love the smell of mildewed bath towels in the morning.  And the sight of sweaty gym socks thrown all over the floor.  And the taste of chocolate mint Matzah, considered a delicacy for eight days a year, but inedible for the other 357.  And the sound of children crying […]

My younger daughter is clearly entrenched in the “terrible threes” (a slight derivation from the “terrible twos” because she is so much more “mature” now).  To the outside world…her teachers, her friends’ parents, especially her Mamaw…she is charming, polite, and outgoing; they scoff at our insistence that she can ever […]

A few weeks ago, my family participated in the Run for the Rose, a local fun run benefitting brain cancer research and honoring those “heroes” who have bravely fought (and continue to fight) this debilitating disease.  This year represented the fourth time we have tackled the “treacherous” 1 kilometer course […]

I remember it like yesterday (thankfully my memory is still relatively intact).  Turning 35 was one of the more challenging birthdays I ever experienced.  As the big day approached, a much older friend (by two months) pointed out that I would soon be closer in age to 50 than to […]

That was Then… It was a simpler time when I was growing up (a half-century ago).  Telephones had rotary dials and did not double as game players.  Kids sat next to the TV because we didn’t have remote controls to change to the other three channels and rabbit ears needed […]

20 Things This Older Dad Has Learned About Parenting (And Life)… As an older dad, I often find myself “holding court” with younger fathers as they hang on my every word, hoping to garner some wisdom from my years of life experiences. (At 49.5 with two daughters almost 6 and […]

It can’t get any better than this. Start the day with a brisk jog…on the treadmill (nothing “brisk” about 90-ish degrees at 6:00 am). Throw in a new Under Armour athletic shirt (to match my five year old “tomboy” daughter’s wardrobe), a designer four-sided trashcan with pics of the family, […]