A Life of Words

My beautiful birth mother Betty celebrated a birthday in heaven this past week – her 105th! With her remarkable gifts as a vocalist, I have no doubt she spent part of the day doing what I’ve learned from the full siblings I found in 2005 that she loved doing – singing. But Betty probably does … More As Betty marks another birthday in heaven – No. 105 – we celebrate with her, sending overflowing buckets of love

So … I’m going to Denver on Wednesday. More specifically, I’m going to a wedding Thursday. My great-niece Sydney James, the amazing granddaughter of my big brother Crys, the oldest of my 3 birth family siblings, is marrying her longtime beau Jacob. And my getup in this photo is what I’ll be wearing to the … More A steampunk wedding (I now know what that is) and a calf injury that, thankfully, won’t keep me from making the trip

Although I grew up playing the clarinet and picked up the piano in my late 40s, I never learned to play the guitar – a regrettable choice, I’m thinking, although I realize it’s not too late. Such a beautiful, soulful instrument in the right hands. I wouldn’t have been a rocker and probably would’ve stuck … More A classical brother who loves classical guitar — actually, guitar of any kind — and a masterpiece that brings chills

When I was growing up in the Conroe area north of Houston in the mid- to late 1970s, there was a kid down our street who had a basketball goal on his driveway in our huge Oak Ridge North subdivision across I-45 from the newly developing The Woodlands. Ricky Eklof was five years younger than … More What a treat: Seeing my long-ago young neighborhood basketball buddy, who’s still displaying his athletic skills

If you’ve watched the enchanting “The Sound of Music” on TV as millions have for years at the holidays, you’ve loved it like we have. But until you’ve experienced it on the big screen like Kay and I did Monday night at Cinemark Mansfield, you haven’t truly seen it — not in all its resplendent, … More ‘The Sound of Music’ on the big screen left us in awe at what we’ve been missing watching it on TV all these years

Kay and I shed some tears Sunday afternoon. In a packed house at Theatre Arlington, we weren’t alone, I can promise you. The final performance of “I’m Proud of You” was an emotional, moving portrayal of my longtime newspaper colleague Tim Madigan’s friendship with Mister Rogers. Yes, *that* Mister Rogers, the one who made children … More Cherishing a play about Mister Rogers and Tim, my former newspaper colleague who wrote a beautiful book about their friendship

Eleven years ago, on July 26, 2014, my dear ol’ Dad, whose sense of humor and passion for making others laugh carried him through life, hopped on his flight for heaven. Clark Lindsay Christlieb, who played basketball and football and ran track in high school in St. Paul, Minnesota, gave melanoma a great race twice … More Marking 2 anniversaries: Missing Dad, 11 years after he got his wings, and 10 years to the day later, my unwelcome PE