Grandparenting truly lives up to its billing!!!

My wife and I are visiting our daughter and son-in-law and our first grandchild, Gabriel Valenzuela. I know….I know. Everybody’s grandbabies are beautiful, but get a load of this smile! He remind me of Bronco Nagurski!!! Look that one up!
Oh, yeah, grandparenting doesn’t seem to have all the anxieties I had as a parent. We [...]

To counsel or NOT to counsel, Psychotherapy or No Psychotherapy: That is the question!

I’ve mentioned in a couple of posts that I am a marriage & family therapist. The following letter is from an e-mail I received yesterday from a former client. The twenty-something young man wanted to thank me by sharing with me a letter he sent to a co-worker who he was concerned about and shared how [...]

FOOTBALL: Scott High defeats Duquesne Oct 10th, 1969 in a game right out of “Friday Night Lights”

It was a perfect fall night, cool and crisp and the field was in relatively good shape for early October. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 3,500 rabid fans were in attendance that night. And this was not unusual for the football hungry steel town that was my hometown. Football was king at every level. Everyone [...]

Mother’s Day: The 5 year old Prodigal Son

It’s funny now to reflect on my mom’s absence in my life. Most of us choose to make autonomous moves to individuate. But when someone dies and is gone for a long period of time, those moves to be a separate person with a separate identity don’t seem to be as important as they did [...]

Mother’s Day: A Song for the Heart

Mom sang all the time! And when she wasn’t singing she was doing what I call a hum-whistle. If she was doing dishes, laundry or any assortment of household chores that required more muscle and air, that’s when the hum-whistle would do. A hum-whistle sounds very much like air pushing through one’s lips but you [...]

Bathing in Praise: Mother’s Day Thoughts

Well, it’s coming up on Mother’s Day and I want to reflect about my mom. I’m sure most people feel strongly about their mothers, but I’m here to tell you there was none better. Ruthie Sylves had a way of exuding love and acceptance that made even the worst days tolerable. Mom was the eternal [...]

FOOTBALL: Coaches and Scumbags PART IV

Without coaches, most athletes would never advance their skill level beyond the natural talent they were born with. At the ideal end, football coaches are wonderful mentors who use their love of the game to teach beyond the heightened skill level and excellent team play to broader lessons about life. And part of that process [...]

FOOTBALL: Termites, Mighty-Mites, Tongues and Tackles PART III

I do not recall the first time I donned a football helmet and the wonderful gear that comes with playing little-gridder ball. I do recall wearing it though. The equipment included a male girdle to protect the hips, thigh pads and knee-pads that went into the pants, shoulder pads and cleats. This was as close [...]