The Words Fall Out

Facts are always true, but sometimes they can’t begin to tell the whole truth.

Fact: Sue Mogan was our kids’ elementary school music teacher.
Truth: Sue Mogan was the most influential educator in our family’s history. She was at once teacher, mentor, colleague, cheerleader, confidant, and friend. She was foundational; she was inspirational. […]

It is concert season, and the community calendar is overflowing with a vast array of performances—symphonies professional and collegiate, chamber groups orchestral and vocal, choirs sacred and profane. I wish I could hear them all.

Still, of all the concert events out there, my favorites are at school. Nothing is more magical than a school performance. The age doesn’t matter: I feel as much pure joy watching the little kids who can barely stand still as I do the nearly-graduated who have keenly honed their skills. …

I am married to an honest man, a man whose integrity rules beyond the bounds or morality and ethics: it is woven into the fabric of his soul. By all accounts he was this way even as a kid, but I suspect his sense of integrity was honed and settled in his years as a cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point. […]

Like them or not, you’ve got to admit it: cars are pretty amazing. What else have we got that, no matter the time, place, or weather, gets us where we want to go as easily and efficiently as a car? Climb in, turn the key, and go. That’s amazing. I am grateful for cars. […]

What if.

January 1 – April 30: Campaign-Free Zone
Every year, a 4-month moratorium on political speeches, stumping, TV ads, direct mail, and public solicitation of funds. That’s right, no campaigning: it’s Quiet Time. This includes PACs, too. […]

We had just pulled into town, starving. The hotel clerk recommended a place, a steak house. It was after 9 and a lighter meal would have been better, but what the heck. When in Texas, and all that.

I thought the name sounded familiar. “Is that the place with all the billboards?” He didn’t think so. Entering the parking lot my suspicions were confirmed. Yep, this was the place: home of the 72-ounce steak. […]

Air travel is a miracle. Truly. That massive metal tube leaves the earth and touches down in another city–or another continent, for crying out loud. It’s amazing! And for the lucky few who experience the miracle in the First Class cabin, it’s magic. Wide seats. Complimentary beverages. Forks. For the rest of us, it’s an exhausting pain in the ass. […]

A child’s eighteenth birthday: the mythical, most-talked-about parental milestone of all. How often is that age invoked, from the moment of conception, almost as an incantation?

“You’re committed for the next 18 years . . .”

“. . . what it costs to raise a kid to age 18 . . .” […]