Spin Cycle

I Have a Confession

November 7, 2009

“In the end, your family tree is a diagram of a thousand choices, all made in your favor.“ Robert Brault Parenting is hardly an exact science. In fact, it is really the biggest conceivable game of roulette because virtually every decision a parent makes is fraught with uncertainty. The outcome is often unpredictable and we […]

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I get that sinking feeling …

July 3, 2009

…all over again when I think about it.

It was the summer of 1997. We were getting ready to leave for a relaxing vacation at our favorite destination, Pismo Beach. I was in the house finishing the laundry and packing suitcases. BigBob went to the garage to get the car ready.

So the boys, who were then 10 and 5 1/2 years old, went outside to play. I reminded them to stay on the quiet circle where our house was located and not go out onto the busies street with which it intersected. There are two entrances to the circle from the more heavily-trafficked thoroughfare and plenty of room between the two to ride bikes.

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A Little Spice

June 26, 2009

“Jealousy is like a hot pepper. Use it mildly, and you add spice to the relationship. Use too much of it and it can burn.” Ayala M. Pines Romantic Jealousy (1992) Are you a jealous person? In what ways? Toward whom? Are there any behaviors or characteristics that are guaranteed to bring out the green envy […]

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My Life Changed When I Was Adopted

February 2, 2009

Ironically, my parents were tremendous animal lovers. And it was a mutual love affair. It was logical since my mother grew up on a farm where she learned to care for all kinds of animals. My father also grew up in South Dakota and worked on farms for many years. Still … when we were growing […]

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What if …

January 18, 2009

… he hadn’t left us too soon? Topics: Spin Cycle

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The Long Good-Bye

May 13, 2007

My mother, Ethel, left this world on October 13, 2005, but she left her family long before that. She left us gradually, slowly inching further and further away until she finally retreated into her own little universe — a little corner of her own mind where we could no longer connect or interact with her. And eventually, I did something I never would have believed I could do: I wished that she would die.

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My Heart Belongs to Clint (Part Two)

August 29, 2006

Folks ask me how I came to know Clint Ritchie personally. Ironically, Conservatorship of Wendland played a role. Like so many other aspects of my life (so far), this story is stranger than fiction and demonstrates that a) I couldn’t make this stuff up and b) the hand of God is upon all aspects of our lives. […]

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My Heart Belongs to Clint (Part One)

July 18, 2006

I’ve been gushing on and on about James Gandolfini. I even said he was the greatest actor ever in the history of television.

I admit that I should have qualified my assessment. Gandolfini is the greatest actor ever in the history of primetime television.

Daytime television? Different story.

The greatest actor in the history of daytime television is none other than my very dear friend, Clint Ritchie. ((Clint is retired, so I no longer get to watch his handsome mug on my television screen on a regular basis which explains my “senior moment”.))

Things just haven’t been the same since Clint decided, in December 1998, not to renew his contract with ABC and left the role of Clint Buchanan that he created on “One Life to Live” back on September 10, 1979.

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