Always a Runner-Up
I have always loved watching, playing, coaching, reading or even just talking about sports. The goal of any sport, individual or team, is to become Champion.

In my experience, I rarely ever became one on the field or on the court. I had always been on teams that finished no better than 2nd, regardless of sport or teammates. I considered myself the best runner-up in the tri-state. Perhaps I was a Champion Runner-Up? Continue reading

My great aunt Jessie squinted in the direction of the sun as it set on the hill, orange light broken up between the trees. She was reminiscing with us about her dad, my great grandfather, Dee Barrett.

She was there. I mean back there, back then. Back when she was a young girl, sitting at the table with her dusty feet swinging from the chair’s height, surrounded by her sisters and brothers. She was with us in the physical, but in her mind she was at that table.

She shared with us that evening how she could vividly remember the way he’d come home, kick his filthy boots off and remove his miner’s hat before entering the tiny place they all called home. Continue reading

Life has a way of teaching us lessons, even in bizarre situations.  Can I share with you a story about one particularly ridiculous event that taught me a little something about running away from fear?

Lester and Meredith Miller had the prettiest home on the block.  It was a two-story brick home built in the early 1900s.  The front porch was huge, made of concrete and had brick columns and a brick rail around it.  Two giant maple trees in the front yard that made the perfect shade for breaks in the summer.  Their front yard was separated from the side yard and back yard by a white picket fence that was about three feet tall. Continue reading