Untimely Death

My Dad will likely die tonight. (update: Pop died June 24 at around 7pm) Born on the heels of the Russian Revolution in May of 1923, or thereabouts. Who knows? with record keeping the way it was, or wasn’t. It makes him 95 or so. A hard long life, maybe even good at times. He […]
Brothers from…in Moscow

In April of 1998 my brothers (two of them: Tim and Leonard, sans one: Fred) and I made a trip to Russia to visit my parents who had moved back for a time to start a church in my Dad’s hometown, Mikhaylovka. Mikhaylovka is a few hours outside of Rostov on Don, just off the Black […]
It’s Just Tuna…

It’s Just Tuna…that’s what I thought until I read the bottom of the can. Eating is so complicated. The first thing I noticed was the invitation to not drain the tuna (no photo, but really, fish in a can is visually unappetizing, and the liquid may be the most unappealing part). But I left it in and […]
Remember to say “Thank You”

Cleaning the garage today I stumbled on a thank you note from my daughter in law from August 2012. My son and d-i-l had moved from Southern California to Fort Collins, Colorado and I drove the U-Haul. So she wrote the following kindness: Dear Parent of the year (don’t you dare tell Kelly!): Thank you […]
Irreplaceable

This is the heading Nadia Bagdanov, 1924-2013 Rest in Peace “There is nothing that can replace the absence of someone dear to us, and one should not even attempt to do so. One must simply hold out and endure it. At first that sounds very hard, but at the same time it is also a […]
In Memory of Nadia Bagdanov

Nadia Bagdanov April 8, 1924 – September 13, 2013 Services: Viewing: Thursday September 26 beginning at 5:30 pm in the Garden View Chapel at Rose Hills Gate 1 Thursday Night Service: Thursday September 26 at 7pm in the Garden View Chapel at Rose Hills Gate 1 Funeral Service: Friday, September 27 at 10 am. Whittier […]
Murder in a Small Town, Part 2

It has been quite a week in Southern California and Nuevo. I wrote earlier my initial response to the murder here in Nuevo, and feel a follow up post is warranted. Tonight we have a meeting at Mountain Shadows Middle School from 7-9 that the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department is hosting regarding safety. I am […]
Murder in a Small Town

Yesterday two people out for a walk on a familiar stretch of Nuevo, a mother and daughter, were brutally stabbed to death. We are exposed to murder in abundance in our culture: Real murders on the news, dramatic portrayals on television, in movies, in books, in music, in video games. It is pervasive. When it […]
Seattle…Original Starbucks
Shoe-less Joe
My youngest son’s name is Joseph. He is my favorite. I say that because it bugs people who don’t believe that it is appropriate to admit that at times you like one of your kids more than the others. It’s not that I don’t love my other boys (Tim, Levi, or Caleb), its just that […]