Posts Tagged: shock

50 Years Ago In Dallas

November 22nd, 2013
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On November 22, 1963, I was 9 years old and off from school that day because I felt sick.
I was under the covers of my parents bed and watching the black and white television they had in their bedroom.  For some reason my Dad was home that day and he come upstairs to see how I was when the television programming stopped and the unbelievable and shocking news was announced that President John F. Kennedy has been shot in Dallas and died.
I had never seen my father cry before and I didn’t know what to do.  He went … Read More

Lean In To Laughter

April 25th, 2013
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One of my brothers has a wacky way of making a joke exactly when it’s needed. His timing and dry delivery are impeccable!  Just when the situation is starting to get either too serious or is totally out of hand, I can always depend on my brother to throw an exclamation point into the conversation.   It’s not an easy thing to do.  There’s a fine line between funny and unfunny and once you cross over into unfunny, it’s hard to undo and recover your mojo. I’ve delivered some whoppers that have crashed on delivery but I don’t try to… Read More

Newtown: A Priest’s Tears

December 18th, 2012
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Monsignor Robert Weiss I always think of priests as people who have heard and seen it all. After years of listening to thousands of people confess their sins (large and small), and executing innumerable weddings, funerals and baptisms, I can’t imagine that priests are surprised by anything anybody does.  I’m sure their deep faith gives them hope and optimism about human behavior but there probably isn’t anything new under the sun for them. Until I read about Monsignor Robert Weiss. Weiss is a priest at St. Rose of Lima parish in Newtown, CT and he horribly lost more than 10… Read More

Stop All The Clocks. . .

March 19th, 2011
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Someone you love has died. Everything around you, people, conversations, situations, the Earth, even life itself, feels like it has suddenly stopped. To me, this moment of  stillness is very similar to being in a car accident.  After the screeching brakes, the moment of impact, the shattering glass and the crush of metal hitting metal, there is an eerie silence; a tingling in your ears. Your eyes see but what you see doesn’t look real; your ears hear but what is being said doesn’t make sense and you can’t seem to get your breath and breathe.  Nothing is computing and… Read More

Liam Neeson

February 20th, 2011
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I am always on the look-out for stories where people open up and reveal how they handle their feelings of grief.  As you know, the subject of grief is not considered a mainstream topic of conversation because it is such an emotional minefield.  To do so means revealing deep pain and vulnerability; which is hard for anyone to do; but especially hard if you are a celebrity or a public official. It can be almost impossible to get men to talk about how they feel about most things — unless it’s a sports team or a political party — so… Read More