Category: Personal

Facebook memories. It’s so crazy how fast time moves. You don’t see it little by little, but when you look back on a year or two or more, you notice how much everything has changed. I see Caesar’s and Jeter’s face day by day and they always looks the same. I don’t notice the new…

I ran the bathwater as hot as I could get it, even boiled some water on the stove, and poured it in. I added some elderberry bubble bath to help draw out the sickness. “Alexa, play Alt Nation on Sirius XM,” I called out. I set everything by the tub: extra towels so I could…

Two vaccines and a booster, but it finally got me—I have COVID. Not a big surprise, though, because my mom has been sick for a few weeks, and I’ve been around her. Luckily my symptoms are mild. It started with a sore throat (that is already gone), and now I mostly have a very runny…

The following is a eulogy I delivered for my Grandma Barnhart at a private funeral service on Friday, Oct. 29, 2021. She died Oct. 26, 2021, of COVID. On Monday, when I last saw grandma, I had a feeling time was short—I just knew. So, I chose to read a few prayers over her. I…

“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” I’m a firm believer in…

One night in early August, I found myself in a circumstance that I hadn’t been in for quite some time—it was 1 a.m. and I couldn’t sleep. My mind was racing, panic was setting in, and a sense of dread overtook me. “You can’t do it.” “It will be too hard.” “You will fail.” These…

Life hasn’t stopped being crazy for me lately, and that’s probably why I’ve been terrible and neglecting this blog. But, while I’ve been absent around here, I’ve been fully present and moving forward in life. In April, I bought a house. In May, I graduated from college with my bachelor’s degree after seven LOOOOOONG years….

It’s been a hot minute since I’ve written a blog. It’s one of those things, you know—life got busy and some of my passions had to take a back seat. How crazy is it that when life gets stressful, our body’s first instinct is to shut down and ignore the things that make us feel…

The warm autumn sun shines through the tall oaks and sturdy maples. It hits my face and illuminates my soul. I pause for a moment on a bridge. I look out into the trees, close my eyes, and see the light filter through my eyelids. I listen carefully to the wind rustling the leaves that…

Books––books have been on my mind quite a bit lately. Actually, books are the reason I haven’t written a blog in several weeks. Since my last blog, Caesar and I have traveled to Cuyahoga Valley National Park and to several local trails over and over. And in fact, I used a book in CVNP to…