Category: Family

19

Family / Inspire

The hawk, my dad and me

July 28, 2016 would have been my dad’s 87th birthday. He has been gone for five years. He was my mentor and friend and of course I miss him like crazy. Grief is a...

4

Family / Inspire

Why the darkest Christmas was my brightest

Ketchum / Sun Valley Idaho (Image Source) It was Christmas 2009 and as in years previous, I traveled to the mountains to spend the holidays with my parents at their home in Ketchum, Idaho,  a small...

0

Family / Inspire

Time, the most precious gift of all

As Mother’s Day approaches I am reminded how blessed I am to still have my vibrant, wise and beautiful mom with me. There are enough things in life that I may, or may not,...

2

Family / Pets

Giving your heart to a dog

When you give your heart to a dog, you’re setting yourself up to the inevitable fact that you are likely to outlive them. Life with any pet means a lot of love and companionship, but...

0

Family / Inspire

Bullying: The hurt that keeps on giving

I was bullied in school. Back then, I don’t think we called it bullying. In fact, I think most people in the 1960s and 70s tended to look at it as “Kids will be kids.” The...

5

Family

A Father’s Day memory

(I wrote this three years ago today, on June 15, 2011. I reprint it here in honor of Father’s Day and my dad Pat.)   I opened his closet door and reached for the...

0

Family

The children are watching…

What I saw: The mom had a vise-like grip on her little boy’s arm as she dragged him over to the bench in front of the store. His little legs scrambled as fast as...

7

Family / Inspire

Lessons from a dad on Father’s Day

In honor of Father’s Day, I’d like to share some of the ‘dadisms’ from my father, Pat Murphy, a journalist, writer, political commentator and one of the most interesting people I’ve ever known. Throughout...

0

Family / Work

The enduring power of the written word

The written word is really a miracle. Except for some style and grammatical changes over the generations, it remains constant and allows us to carry knowledge, thoughts and history through time. Speech is limited, and memories of the mind only last so long. But through the written word, we can preserve information and ideas, and share them for all time.

0

Family / Inspire

Marshmallows and the meaning of life

The campfire crackles and spits sparks into the black night sky and I watch as the tiny orange dots float up, up, toward the silvery moon and stars, like little fireflies lilting and meandering...

5

Family / Inspire

Reverb 10: The power of friendship & family

“Friendship is a sheltering tree.”  ~Samuel Taylor Coleridge I’m participating in a month-long blogging challenge called Reverb10 during which I am posting a response to a writing prompt from 31 different authors. The goal of the...