I have two wonderful big brothers I’ve known only since 2005, one of whom passed away just a few years later. They’re two of my three full-blooded biological siblings. But I have another big brother I’ve known my whole life, and he’s pretty darn amazing too. Most of you who grew up with me know … More Happy No. 65 to my big brother, the one and only Ikeman!

Douglas Allen Brown was not only a friend to all people – he was a friend to all creatures great and small. His gentle kindness and compassion, innate qualities that flowed in his daily interactions with friends, newspaper colleagues, and strangers, also came shining through when Doug worked with, educated people about, or crossed paths … More It’s Doug’s 67th birthday, and don’t you know they’re having a heavenly party where he is?

Hello, everyone! I don’t know about you, but I’ve been seeing my younger friends’ back-to-school photos on Facebook and trying to figure out where summer went. Since our kiddos are now 23 and on the doorstep of 20, we have college classes ahead for both — the oldest continuing at Tarrant County College and the … More If it’s still 2024, it must be time for a health update … but don’t worry, nothing else has happened!

Turns out I wasn’t the only one getting texts the past several months from my lifelong friend Paul Sweitzer every time Astros second baseman Jose Altuve added a hit to his Hall of Fame-caliber résumé. “I will miss getting text messages from Dad,” Paul’s oldest son Brad shared at Friday’s celebration of life before a … More His sons offer fitting homage to my friend Paul: ‘My dad had a love for God and his family, and he loved people’

Pitcher Framber Valdez was one strike away Tuesday night from sending fellow Houston Astros fan Roger Pinckney and me home with what would’ve been a first for both of us: The rare thrill of witnessing a no-hitter in person, and by our favorite team, no less. But Valdez walked the Rangers’ Josh Smith with his … More Let me tell you about the night we saw an Astros no-hitter … almost!! But what a special game in so many ways

I received the most heartbreaking of news Monday evening. Paul Sweitzer, whom I’ve been friends with since I was 5 years old in first grade at St. Matthew Lutheran School in Houston, passed away earlier in the day after suffering a cardiac event while mowing his yard in College Station. Quinton, one of Paul’s three … More I’ve known my dear friend Paul since first grade – and just hours after we were texting, he was gone

We’re right at 3 months from a pivotal vote for president that means everything for our country’s future. Those who will be voting for the former president have had their minds made up since he unwillingly, shamefully left office. Nothing will sway them – no amount of his lawbreaking, immorality, hypocrisy, power-hungry disrespect for the … More A hypothetical vote between Nixon and Trump: Which lawbreaking candidate would you choose?

My dear, beautiful birth mother’s birthday came and went again this week. I will always love the mother I never met and painfully regret never having just one chance to celebrate her or my birthdays together — with her and the three full-blooded older siblings I found in the summer of 2005. Happy birthday, Betty … More Wishing a happy birthday to the mother I never met but who’s always loved me — and whom I’ll always love too

It’s been nine weeks and two days since I was carrying our new (at the time) Wheaten terrier puppy Win-Win in the dark at 3 a.m., tripped on a chair and fell hard on our laminate floor, fracturing my right femur (thigh bone). Physical therapy continues to go smoothly and, after gradual weaning, I ditched … More As therapy continues, my first look in black and white at the fractured femur that ‘fell’ into my world 9 weeks ago