Category Archives: Getting Started

The “Happenstance” of Sobriety

A happenstance is defined simply as a chance encounter. Some happenstances we remember for a lifetime, others we forget quickly, and then there are those few that miraculously change our lives forever. Here’s the story of a miraculous happenstance that ricocheted through history, saving the lives of millions — even my own. It began with a man named Rowland Hazzard. Rowland was born In 1881 … Continue reading The “Happenstance” of Sobriety »

The Best of Times, The Worst of Times

Charles Dickens’s novel, A Tale of Two Cities, opens with the classic description of the age leading up to the French Revolution.  It speaks of a world in chaos and turmoil where contradictory pressures moved with equal and opposite force in a world with no North Star.  The novel has been read and reread since it was first published in 1845, and as these same … Continue reading The Best of Times, The Worst of Times »

Why the Heck Do We Have to Struggle?

  I discovered my grandson Sam has the spirit of a caterpillar.  Just as a caterpillar is transformed into a beautiful butterfly, little Sam is on his journey toward being transformed into a mighty man. Wow! It’s an amazing process to witness, impossible to understand, and endlessly fascinating.  I find myself hoping Sam might have an easy time finding his wings.  But all indications are Mother … Continue reading Why the Heck Do We Have to Struggle? »

How I Found My Humor

“What monstrous absurdities and paradoxes have resisted whole batteries of serious arguments, and then crumpled swiftly into the dust before the ringing death-knell of a laugh” ~ Agnes Replier How my life has been shaped by humor. And to think how close I came to losing laughter forever. As a kid our home was filled with laughter. My dad was a laugh factory and his … Continue reading How I Found My Humor »