I remember the time my boy brought home a video game that looked like it was straight from the ninth circle of Dante’s Inferno – I kid you not! The cover art had more gore than a butcher’s freezer and the dialogue would’ve made a sailor blush. His mom – bless her heart, she’s a […]

Have you ever met a fella who could charm the birds right out of the trees? He’s got that smile, that voice like warm honey, and he can make you feel like you’re the only person in the world. You wanna believe him – heck, your mama taught you to be polite and give folks […]

You ever notice how a good barbecue can fix just about anything? It brings people together, gets ’em talking, laughing. There’s a comfort to it that you don’t find anywhere else. Well, faith ain’t all that different. And I reckon grandparents are the secret sauce in this divine recipe we call Catholicism. Now, before you […]

We’ve all been there, standing in the wreckage of our own making. I’m talking about that moment when your big project at work goes sideways, your wife’s famous banana pudding turns out more like a brick, or you finally try to fix that leaky faucet and end up with a geyser shooting water clean across […]

I want to talk about something that can feel about as confusing to your kid as why their baseball glove has to be kept in a special box. I’m talking about getting them ready for their first confession and communion. You know the drill: the wide eyes, the whispered questions, the little bit of worry […]

Alright, settle down there. Let’s talk about something that’s got more folks on edge than a long-hot summer in June – patience. I was at the hardware store one Saturday, my old stomping grounds before I retired. A young fella, probably all of 30 with a phone glued to his hand like it was his […]

Ever been to a church potluck and seen that one guy – let’s call him ‘Generous’ Gary – trying to win sainthood by buying a whole roasted pig for the whole town? He means well, bless his heart. But then you look around and see half the folks didn’t bring a dish, just a side […]

Have you ever looked at your toolbox and felt a little overwhelmed? I mean, really looked at it. All those wrenches of different sizes, the screwdriver set with more heads than a Hydra, the mystery boxes of nails and screws that seem to multiply on their own? Running my hardware store for thirty years, I […]

Alright now, picture this – I’m standing in my old hardware store on a Tuesday afternoon, helping a fella named Gus try and figure out why his brand-new riding mower was spitting oil all over his prize-winning rose bushes. Gus is a good man, a hard worker, but he’s about as mechanical as a tea […]