Some years ago I read in the New York Times of a strange East-meets-West phenomenon. The Japanese had discovered Christmas and, no doubt aided by enterprising retailers, taken the season to heart. Aware that the holiday has something to do with…
Sitting on the bed next to my grandmother as she lay dying, I witnessed a curious thing. Earlier that day, hospice had put my grandmother on a morphine drip and ever since I had arrived she had seemed unaware of her…
“I’m the luckiest girl in the world,” my daughter Jenna once told me. She meant it. I don’t think it’s so much that Jenna has a great life–which she would be the first to tell you that she does–but the…
I had a somewhat traumatic childhood, but 1970, the year I turned eight, was especially difficult. A Tsunami of misfortune hit my family. My father lost his job and couldn't find work and my mother began to exhibit the first signs…
My Dear Child, I am so very proud of you. Now, as you prepare to embark on a new journey–your own journey–I’d like to share one piece of advice I wish I'd learned at your age: Always remember that adversity…
CLICK TO SEE NATHAN HELPING OUT Nathan Glad has the perfect last name. According to his parents he is always glad. Glad and grateful. He is also fragile. He was born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta, (brittle bone disease) which means his bones…
The task of defining love is one that some of humanity’s greatest minds have wrestled with. Philosophers, theologians and psychologists have all contributed their definitions of the phenomenon. Personally, I found a pretty good definition of love in Italy. One…
"Avoid cliches," is one of the first things any writing class worth its pencils will teach. Clichés are not only a sign of unoriginality but lazy thinking in general–a truth that applies to speech as well as the printed word. And some clichés are…
Our trip to the Caribbean seemed to be cursed from the onset. I wanted to surprise my wife, Keri, with something she'd never done before and a friend recommended a Caribbean cruise. So that December I gave her the 12 days…
This guest blog is from my daughter, and writing assistant, Jenna Evans Welch. (Yes, the same little Jenna from The Christmas Box, only grown up. Enjoy) Yesterday I gave my old bike away. I wheeled it out of the…