At the coffee shop, two young women who’ve recently completed their freshman year of college are comparing notes and talking about what they’ll be doing in the fall. Then they move on to a discussion about applying for study abroad programs that will take place in their junior year, and one of them says, “It’s…

The other day, I made the mistake of saying the word “anywho” to a friend who is a lifelong New Yorker.  If you’ve never heard this word, it means you’re not a midwesterner, and I can’t explain it.  Anyway, my friend suggested that I should probably avoid such provincialisms in the future or else people…

I know many of you have been looking at the calendar, and I wanted to give a brief update about Jessica’s condition.  The surgery went well, and she is out of the ICU and in a regular med/surg bed at the hosptial.  She has been eating chicken strips and french fries and drinking as much…

The first one comes in the fall of Jessica’s junior year, a letter from the admissions office of Kansas State University. I don’t immediately recognize what it is. Once I do, for a moment hope flaps its vain and tinsel wings. Maybe it’s true. Maybe my daughter can go to college, and get a great…

So bee-you-tee-ful! You can look at more like it on Jessica’s website, where she also tells stories about me.  

Jessica is home from the hospital.  She was discharged over the weekend.  I had a phone meeting this morning, and she expressed strong disapproval over my not giving her my complete and undivided attention. (“I just had major surgery.” “You were asleep.” “I might have woken up.” “If I don’t get some work done, we’ll…