EJ, I went back and looked at the last letter I had written to you – thinking that I had written five or six letters since you were born. I had only written two – when you were born and when you were two months old. So, it’s been two years and 4 months since I have written. Where has the time gone?  That scarcity of writing has made me more determined than ever to write to you more often. At some point, you might actually read some of these letters.  And if you do, just know that they were written for me as much as for you.  So, what…

Dear Liza Jean and James, As we left Orlando and headed home, there were several things I will always remember about this trip. And many had nothing to do directly with Disney – licking your paintbrushes while painting your Ostrich Egg; running down the hall to our hotel elevator to push the buttons; how much you loved soft serve ice cream; eating apples like they were your favorite thing in the world; and Liza Jean singing “Everybody Knows I’m a Copperhead, a Copperhead, a Copperhead” again and again. In addition to those memories that bring a smile to my face, I want the feeling I had during our trip to…

Dear Liza Jean and James, Day four of our Disney trip started out with the two of you enjoying apples and peanut butter in bed.  One of the best things we brought with us to Disney was a bag of crisp apples and the best thing we purchased at Disney World was a $4 jar of peanut butter.  These became parts of our breakfasts and snacks – usually the peanut butter served with pretzels or on a spoon.  If Animal Kingdom is all about the Animals and Hollywood Studios is all about the shows, Magic Kingdom is all about the rides and THE CASTLE. Maybe that is why it is…

Wars are not good.  Wars cost a lot of money, are very disruptive to innocent people, and cost lives.  So, there are economic, social and moral reasons to use informed judgement and extreme caution before entering an armed conflict, much less starting one.  Before becoming Vice-President, our current Vice President made the following statements, “America doesn’t have to constantly police every region of the world. Our interest, I think very much, is in not going to war with Iran. It would be a huge distraction of resources. It would be massively expensive to our country.”  In September of 2024, Vance even said that a war between Israel and Iran was…

Earlier this week, I visited my Aunt Mary.  At 86 years old, she is the only one of my mom’s nine siblings who is still alive.  So, other than my own siblings, she is my only living connection to my mom. As we sat talking for two and a half hours, we got around to how we both overcame difficult childhoods.  She would be the only one in her family to graduate from high school – and yes, I said high school. In addition to graduating from high school, she would meet an amazing man, Thomas, who would become her husband and partner.  They would build an amazing life together,…

Today as I took a walk with Emmy, I thought about my mom.  She was born on February 4th, 1943. The 7th of 10 children, she would drop out of school without finishing the eighth grade. Only one of her siblings would finish high school – my aunt Mary, who is also the only one still alive.  Mom passed away on November 19th, 2012, from lung cancer at the age of 69.  She was a lifetime smoker. Today would be her birthday.  And I did something unusual on my walk today.  Being in a reflective mood, I decided to listen to one of my playlists.  I usually prefer to play…

This is my second attempt at this letter. The first draft I took down because it lost its point. This is why I should never publish first drafts of anything I write. Dear James and Liza Jean, Yesterday your dad called and put the two of you on video.  You were both dancing and bouncing up and down on the couch while wearing dancing outfits that included tutus. You were both so full of joy.  I am so grateful that your mom and dad encouraged this and invited your Gizzi and me to be a part of it.  For some reason, it seems more fun when you do this with…

Growing up, I learned very quickly how to save money and to not live beyond my means.  Having to borrow for college and sometimes work as many as three jobs simultaneously while getting my college degree made me a saver.  I took to heart Benjamin Franklin’s adage, “A penny saved is a penny earned.” And so did the woman I married. When we arrived in Chapel Hill after our honeymoon, we started our life together in a very small cinder block apartment on campus.  Money was tight.  If there was a creative cheap recipe with Bisquick, Elizabeth knew it.  I lovingly referred to her my “Bisquick Queen”.  And many of…

I recently started a blog post, that when posted, would be titled “Another Civil War?”  In it I would detail how our current administration, by creating chaos, uncertainty and divisiveness through dangerous rhetoric, propaganda, and intimidation tactics using what can now only be called a paramilitary force could lead to something that might look like a civil war.  I would recall a conversation with one of my European friends before the 2024 election where he would mention a possible civil war if Trump lost, and I rolling my eyes in disbelief.  I am no longer rolling my eyes. In the blog I would recall previous “civil wars” in our country,…

When mom left dad for good during the spring of 1971, we literally fled to Louisa County, Virginia, where I had been born ten years earlier. The year 1971 was a difficult year for me.  And it was a difficult year for our country. The Vietnam War was escalating with U.S. troops invading Cambodia, sparking protests. During one of these protests, National Guard troops kill four students at Kent State University. Race relations were strained, to say the least, with two Black students being killed by police at Jackson State University. And the Attica Prison riot ended in bloodshed.  But not all was bad that year.  The voting age got…