My first experience with dementia was with my Romanian grandfather 30 years ago.  I was especially close to him because we shared the same birth date (different years).  He was 84, living in a nursing home.  Joan and I would sneak garlic bologna to him because his...

I am not a very handy person when it comes to most mechanical problems I face around the house; much to Joan’s chagrin.  Of course, I make up for this deficiency with my charm and rapier style wit.  I can fix a broken toilet, replace gaskets on a faucet, handle simple...

I have often joked about looking forward to the day when I can yell at the kids to get off my lawn and grumble in low, unintelligible tones.  To me it seems… so liberating. On a recent trip to have coffee with a business associate at a fancy pants coffee shop, I felt...

The Markets Tariff trouble. Just two weeks ago, the U.S. government lifted tariffs on Mexico and Canada. So, it was a surprise last week when President Trump tweeted the United States would impose an escalating tariff on all goods imported from Mexico until the flow...

Most people have a level in mind of how much money should be on hand in savings or checking so they feel comfortable.  This cushion can vary widely from person to person based on their own life experience and what feels right.  As a practical matter, I believe that 3...

I grew up in a home with music, but I have come to learn that not all homes had music.  Some homes had TV noise in the background, others had animal noises, and others had children yelling and laughing.  It is natural for me to hear music in our home now and I love...

Recently we met with a gentleman (we will call him Arthur) who was looking for some help with his approaching retirement.  This is not anything new to us.  It is exciting for us to see a person approaching this milestone, but they may be approaching it with...

You may remember my blog from March 2018 A Man, A Motorcycle, and his Mission.  It was a post about this crazy guy (Leon Logothetis) who made it his mission to travel around the planet on his WWII motorcycle relying entirely on the kindness of strangers.  It...

If tonight, when you lay your head down on your pillow, you have to recall the day’s events and activities to determine which moment was your favorite, could you do it?  I bet you could, and I bet you should.  Our lives have become a blur of things that we...

Although I grew up in Traverse City, there were five years that I lived in the Detroit area just before and just after we were married, 1987- 92.  By then, Detroit had lost the first-place position of murder capital of the nation, mostly due to the mass exodus of...