My father and I didn’t have a lot in common and that fact began to show up in our relationship when I was about 12 years old. The age labeled “pre-teen” is difficult for the pre-teen and his/her parent. In my case, it began a time of being many things my father wasn’t. Please ...

Several years ago the Des Moines Register published a photo of a young guy skating at a skateboard park in the metro. The cutline identified the young man as a 25-year-old. My first thought was, “When I was 25 I was so busy working I couldn’t have gone skateboarding even if I could ...

Do you remember the first time you told a joke and no one laughed? I don’t. It’s happened to me so many times I can’t remember the first. I grew up in a home with lots of jokes, teasing and laughter. Our mother’s family was full of jokesters and Mom kept us laughing, too. Our ...

I have always liked older people. My parents were close to many of their aunts and uncles so I got to know and appreciate that generation when I was a kid. I especially appreciate how many of those folks treated me as a kid. One afternoon when I was 13 years old, my Great Uncle Bill and ...

If you ask me, Webster City needs a passenger train to Chicago. The last train, Illinois Central's Hawkeye,* left Webster City for Chicago the night of April 30,1971. The next day, 182 passenger trains across America were discontinued, half of all trains remaining in service at that time. ...

One word you won’t read in my obituary is “gourmet.” Not that I have anything against fine foods and good wines; it’s just that I’m content with meat and potatoes. Or casseroles. Or pizza. Or cheeseburgers. I wasn’t aware that people ate fancier foods until I was a teenager. By ...