Tomorrow is my birthday and I’m very happy to be celebrating another year of life. This weekend I was able to join my mother, my wife and two children for a basketball game and dinner. It was great to be together again. I suppose the one cause to which I’ve devoted much of my life … Read more
This is a day and a season of thanksgiving and this year I’m most thankful for all that has happened. This has been a watershed year of memories and a chance to reconnect with people and memories from the past. Just yesterday I received a note from a surgeon who was once my boss at … Read more
This has been a very busy and productive week. It’s been a week with a full range of emotion. On Monday of this week I received an email from a doctor with whom I worked at the Naval Air Station Dispensary in Albany, GA thirty-five years ago. We were re-introduced on LinkedIn. The power of … Read more
Yesterday Dara was involved in a car accident. It’s a moment every parent dreads, getting that call. She was crying but wanted to let me know that she was alright. She was one of this winter’s first victims of slippery roads. She survived and without injury. Her car is a little banged up, but not … Read more
Last night we celebrated my Mom’s 82nd birthday with a trip to Red Lobster in Blasdell, New York. Mom’s seen a lot of life in 82 years. Born to two working parents in the pre-depression years. Her mother was a court stenographer for the City of New York and her dad was a bailiff in … Read more
Friday night as I sat waiting for dinner at Kabob Kafe in nearby Ellicottville, New York with my wife and daughter my Blackberry buzzed. I picked it up and looked and I had been “poked” on Facebook by my nephew, Tom Watkins. Tom was letting me know that he just “drilled out” of the U.S. … Read more
Joe and Betty Carrier flanked by their children and grandchildren on the occasion of their 55th wedding anniversary. We enjoyed a lovely dinner at Sprague’s Maple Farms in nearby Portville. It was a lovely October afternoon. The only one missing was our son Devin who was off playing in a benefit golf tournament. I’ve been … Read more
This picture of my wife conducting “Meet the Teacher” night at Franklinville Central School was one of the highlights of my day. Diane loves frogs and her room was decorated with a frog motif and on the door of her classroom hung a sign that said, “we are hoppy to see you.” I’ve been blessed … Read more
A couple of weeks ago following my nephew’s graduation from Recruit Training at Great Lakes Naval Station I approached my nephew and told him I thought that national service would be a good thing for most Americans. I thought we’d have a little less self-absorption if more of our fifty and under crowd actually served … Read more
At 0730 last Friday morning I found myself riding with my brother and his family through the Illinois Street Gate at United States Navy Recruit Training Command. That morning was filled with excitement for all on board. It was homecoming for one old sailor returning to a place where I too had once served. Once … Read more
