We have all had this happen. Something you are using (in your house, car, yard, etc.) starts making a noise, a vibration, a squeak, or anything that is different from the last time you used it. Most likely, the item is still functioning, but now it is making that noise. You are understandably concerned. “What is wrong?”…

A friend of mine has cancer. It is contained and not growing (or at least growing very slowly), so his oncologist has recommended active surveillance as the treatment plan for now. Active surveillance is a strategy in which patients are monitored closely with treatment delayed until something changes that indicates the cancer is progressing. There…

What if, 150 years from now, a poster from Hobby Lobby has become one of the most influential works of art in the world? I was fortunate to hear a lecture by Sarah E. Thompson (curator of Japanese art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) about the inspiration and influence of Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849).…

No, I’m not encouraging a comeback by the ’80s boy band, so you can relax. I was thinking about my high school experience the other day, though. I transferred to a new (larger) school my sophomore year. About 80% of the students had gone to school together since preschool. They knew each other, their parents…

I recently attended the Hope Is Alive (HIA) Inspiring Lunch in Oklahoma City. The theme was “Not Normal,” referring to the differences between HIA and many of the other addiction recovery programs. In recovery, we often refer to people who are not addicts as “normies.” We love normies, but we are grateful that we are not normal.…

John Fitzherbert, in his book, The Boke of Husbandry (1534), wrote, “The dogge must lerne it in his youthe, or els never”. Over time, this became the proverb we now know as, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” (I have to admit that even thinking the name “Fitzherbert” brings back a mental track of Renée Zellweger…

Women couldn’t vote nationally in the U.S. until 1920. While the Civil Rights Act of 1964 made discrimination against women illegal, it wasn’t until 1978 that the Pregnancy Discrimination Act made it illegal to discriminate against women based on pregnancy. That’s right—it has been less than 50 years since it was “OK” to push aside…

If you were a young man or woman in the fall of 1966 (I was two, going on three), you probably slow danced to the song “Cherish” by The Association. One of the original members (there have been over 40), Terry Kirkman, penned the lyrics: Cherish is the word I use to describeAll the feeling…

Eagles have 20/5 binocular vision, which gives them the ability to accurately judge distance, from a long distance. Binocular means two eyes. Post surgery, I can only see out of one for a while, so I am currently monocular and, therefore, have no depth perception. You don’t always appreciate what you have until it’s gone. I miss…

A dear friend of mine changed my life recently without saying a word (well, for him, it wasn’t very many words). I hadn’t seen him in a while, and when we got together for dinner with our wives, it was obvious he was doing well physically. He had lost weight, gained muscle, and looked rested…