You don’t have to fill out any forms, you don’t have to go to any meetings. There are no dues and no expectations. Except for one.
A Sign of the Times
If traffic were moving, I could just drive by. I wouldn’t have to look. I wouldn’t have to think. Stuck here in this jam, it’s not that easy.
The Pink Fairies
This is the same story, more or less, I told my daughter when she was two or three. But my mother is in her eighties. And yet the delight is much the same.
Make My Morning Rich
This is not just an attempt at casual conversation. Whether he knows it or not, Rich is giving me, along with my coffee, what I’ve observed to be his philosophy of life.
Faith Rides Again In The Night
First Place Winner of the Erma Bombeck Global Human Interest Essay Contest
Someone had stolen Tonya’s yellow bicycle, the one her dad had bought for her, the one she rode to her two jobs and back home again.
This I Believe
Originally broadcast on
National Public Radio
Jose meets me at the doorway of the apartment with a shared sense of purpose as if this were his own move, his own daughter.
My Dad, His Hat, and His Brethren
Originally published in
The New York Daily News
This hat has become a reminder to me of a way of life I've never known, a selfless sacrifice I've never given.
The Longest Walk
Originally published in
The Providence Journal
Lizzie, a black Lab, arrived amid protests only to earn a special place in the heart.
My Random Act of Caffeine
What do you do when the barista at Starbucks hands you four drinks when you’ve only ordered two?
9/11 Memorial Tourists: Enough with the Smiling Selfies
Originally published in
The New York Daily News
Seventeen years. Seems like yesterday. But here's what I didn't expect to see at the 9/11 Memorial.
Painting Ourselves into a Corner
Ever go into a paint store? Suddenly, your world is blossoming with potential.
The Ride of Our Lives
A little further down the road, the scenery starts to change. Everywhere you look, things seem…different.
The Gift of a Lifetime
Every once in a while, maybe once in a lifetime, along comes a gift that’s so breathtaking you can’t stop talking about it.
Labs to the Rescue
Although my own black Lab has never rescued me from an 11,239-foot mountain, she has saved the day more than once.
Slow Down and Taste the Lemonade
It’s hard not to notice them sitting there under a tree with their table and makeshift sign, jumping up and waving each time a car goes by. Slow down, they say. Take a break. Buy some lemonade.
Growing Season
She wasn’t going to miss out on growing season, she says, as she tenderly places a tomato plant into the great big hole I just dug. Big but not quite big enough. Make it deeper.