The Ten Commandments

The Ten Commandments

It’s March 1973 and I’ve just gotten my very first eye exam.  The eye doctor dilates my eyes, which is unfortunate because we’re about to have a special afternoon watching The Ten Commandments at a movie theater.  I wasn’t born yet when it came out originally in...
The Hip Man, 2.0

The Hip Man, 2.0

I’m sitting in the treatment room at the orthopedic department of Johns Hopkins in Baltimore.  It’s early 2012. For years, my left hip has been in throbbing pain.  It’s bothered me on and off since I was stationed as an oral surgery technician in Long Beach in 1989. ...
The End

The End

It’s a Spring morning in 2011 and I’m standing outside the Verizon Center in Washington DC. I’m here for an event called Get Motivated!  It’s part rally, part sales pitch with a bit of religion thrown in right before lunch. For just $1.95, I purchased one ticket and...
What’s Your Thing?

What’s Your Thing?

It’s a Tuesday evening in late 1999 and I’m picking up our three-year-old son Dustin from the Stepping Stones daycare center he attends in Munford, TN.  I’ve just finished another long day at my first job after the Navy, U.T. Medical Group in Memphis.  Barb is picking...
Wrestling Isn’t Real

Wrestling Isn’t Real

It’s a Saturday evening in 2004 and our eight-year-old son Dustin and I are watching a UFC fight.  This is the first one he’s ever seen.  Dustin is a wrestling fan.  Not the boring kind of wrestling they do in the Olympics where a guy has someone in a hold for five...