Recovery. Sobriety. Living Wise.
All families have stories of black sheep, and some sheep can wander into some pretty dark places. My family is no different. We, too, have our black sheep, and at one point I counted myself as one. Then, later, I discovered life’s not so simple. We all have our spots. White sheep have black spots, and black sheep have white spots. It’s just that some … Continue reading A Story of Redemption
Several weeks ago I had lunch with my nephew, Marine Captain Mike Lovejoy, who had recently returned home from a tour of duty in Iraq. Throughout his tour he shared with us in elucidating letters his real time experiences. Mike had lived a whole year in a war zone where his survival was not assured and danger was everywhere. I wanted to catch up with … Continue reading Surviving a War Zone
Two and half years ago I wrote this post on Verdell Trice, fondly known as the Mayor of the West Side of Chicago. I worked with Verdell and others in a community renewal endeavor known as the 5th City Project. On account of recent developments in 5th City I’m adding a coda to the original post. Life is unpredictable, and sometimes things bear fruit long … Continue reading Why Bother? (Coda)
“I woke in the middle of the night thinking I heard someone cry, thinking I myself was weeping, and I felt my face and it was dry. Then I looked at the window and thought: Why, yes, it’s just the rain, the rain, always the rain, and turned over, sadder still, and fumbled about for my dripping sleep and tried to slip it back on.” … Continue reading An Ode To Joy
Marsha and I were having breakfast the other day when she raised an interesting question. I had just shared with her an article about how Amazon was implementing a marketing strategy in India that, if successful, would displace millions of small Indian retailers. Her response was simple, but it bowled me off my feet: “Why? Why do they want to do that? Don’t they have … Continue reading What Is Your Ethical IQ?