Bow your head, say a silent prayer

Bow your head, say a silent prayer

This weekend, known to many in America as the official beginning of summer with a three-day weekend, is really something more somber. May 29, the last Monday in May, is Memorial Day. This weekend we remember those who paid the supreme sacrifice while in service of our United States of America. They died so that […]

It’s graduation time, time to move on, respect

It’s graduation time, time to move on, respect

The lilacs have bloomed and are smelling sweet. Baby birds are being born and for many, this is the time of year when students of all ages graduate from one stage of their lives to the next. Regionally, from Oxford to Goodrich, down through Brandon and Clarkston and over to Lake Orion, there will be […]

Happy Mother’s Day and more

Happy Mother’s Day and more

  The older I get the more I appreciate parents. Fathers and Mothers. The closer Mother’s Day gets, the more I’m grateful to my mom, bless her soul. This year I channeled my inner Julio Iglesias to come up with the start of a Mother’s Day column. So, here we go. To all the mothers […]

Parents, don’t give up on your kids

Parents, don’t give up on your kids

You all know I’m a sucker for a good story, especially when it involves parents doing right by their children. (And, “doing right by” does not mean giving their kids everything they want.) So, it will not surprise regular readers that when I overheard an area waitress telling a patron that when she was just […]

Some words of hope for Easter and beyond

Some words of hope for Easter and beyond

This Sunday many around the world will celebrate new birth, renewal and Easter. More than anytime of the year, this is the time of renewed hope, something we can all use. Sometimes that hope comes in an expected form. Just last week I heard a song I’ve heard hundreds of times since it was released […]

The Great Cookie Shortage of ’23?

The Great Cookie Shortage of ’23?

God, help all us sugar freaks! Oh Lord of Confection, give us strength in this time of grief and wanting. This I pray, Amen. If you haven’t heard, there’s a panic going on all over the area and it has nothing to do with banks crashing, inflation killing our savings accounts or the cost of […]

St. Patrick’s Day brings out the jokester

St. Patrick’s Day brings out the jokester

I actually like the month of March. The weather, while unpredictable, is gearing up for warmer days to come. March is a time when folks start to think spring in Michigan may actually arrive. It’s also a time when car dealerships and furniture stores have Irish-themed sales for St. Patrick’s Day – my son Sean’s […]

For the love of a son

For the love of a son

    I loved my dad. My dad loved me (I know, because he told me so). I love my sons. My sons love me (I know because they tell me so). I love the dynamics of father/son relations — the ebbs and flows of emotions from idealizing to eye-rolling to friendship, all bound with […]

Wacky weather and readers respond!

Wacky weather and readers respond!

I don’t know about you, but this weather thingy has got me all discombobulated. We’ve been bamboozled out of a decent winter and I’m kind of flabbergasted by the whole thing. It’s like I’ve been gobsmacked. (Yeah, yeah I know many of you are saying, “Don, you always look dazed and confused, so what’s the […]