Dad and I are birthday twins, 31 years apart. Well, not exactly twins — his birthday is Feb. 27 and mine’s Feb. 28. He was born in 1930 and passed away in 2014; I came along in 1961 and, thankfully, am still here. As I grew up in our family of four in the Houston … More My dad, my long-lost brother and me: 3 birthdays, all bunched together on February 27-28. How cool is that?

A night with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra — like the one I spent Friday with two friends and former Dallas Morning News colleagues — never disappoints. Far from it, this collection of world-class musicians amazes, captivates, delights and shines from first note to last during every piece in every program. The brilliance the DSO achieves with such … More A great Friday night spent with friends, listening to a world-class orchestra — and a pianist who left us in awe

During all my years in this wondrous and often challenging adventure called life, which will reach 62 years on the 28th of this month, I’ve missed out on a lot of places and experiences. For instance: I’ve never been to New York, California, Las Vegas or the Grand Canyon. I’ve never water skied, hiked up … More It took me almost 62 years, but I finally read the brilliantly poignant, personal story that is Anne Frank’s diary

Kay was recently at her mom’s apartment in Dallas, helping her go through items she wants to get rid of. That’s becoming more and more commonplace as, at 88, she makes every effort to downsize — i.e., pawn stuff off on her four kids. When Kay came home with this small tin, covered by a … More Over 20 years later, a wonderful family memory takes shape in the form of a jigsaw puzzle

A mix of smiles and serious faces. Youthful innocence everywhere you look. A few closed eyes and lots of squinting (why do photographers make us stare into the sun?). All the girls wearing dresses. One poor kid on the front row even sporting a buttoned-up suit coat, vest, and slacks that his parents obviously insisted … More Cherishing a class photo from almost 70 years ago — because of the kid in the flannel shirt on the back row

Our cat Teena, whom we adopted in late October 2012, had to see the vet Saturday. It was nothing serious — just a couple of vaccinations. But because her last several vet visits for various needs have been *really* traumatic — including growling, hissing, caterwauling and biting attempts that necessitated the use of an inhaled … More Thanks to some advance medication help, our cat’s visit to the vet wasn’t nearly as traumatic as they’ve been lately