It is nearly dusk as the sun greets the orange and blue horizon over Boston Harbor. Judy and her daughter, Michelle, cuddled together on their living room couch. Michelle, just three years old, draws her baby doll closely to her chest, and holds her mother's hand tightly.
Read More“Let’s go for a walk.”
“Where are we going?”
“Nowhere in particular. I just want to spend some time with you.”
“I’m kind of busy right now. Can we do it another day?”
“I would really like to go now, if you don’t mind.”
Read MoreAt 2:00 pm on August 31, 2001, the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) aired the final original showing of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. After more than 30 years of greeting youngsters each day on television with his trademark "Hi, Neighbor," Fred Rogers, host and creator of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, put away his cardigan and sneakers for the last time.
This week, the world took pause to recognize the 50th Anniversary of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, which first aired on February 19th, 1968.
Read More"You are wrong again!"
[ no response ]
"I told you yesterday and last week that this is not what I expect!" raising my voice even louder.
[ still no response ]
"Look, I thought we had an understanding. You are really disappointing me, and we may need to make a change. And, it's not going to be pretty!"
[ silence ]
Suddenly, I hear my wife's voice from the adjacent room.
"Are you yelling at the bathroom scale again?"
Read MoreReading the advertisements in the back of a tennis magazine, an advertisement caught a young man's attention: "The Secret of Never Losing Another Game in Tennis," offered by the only "undefeated" tennis player alive.
"This could be the answer I have been looking for!" he said to himself. "Once I have the secret, I can stop reading all these magazines for best practices, stop working out each day, and stop my special high protein and low carbohydrate diet."
He quickly completed the application form, wrote out a check for $99.95, and placed both the application and check into an envelope.
Read MoreIt's 5:30 in the morning. My wife and I are standing at the end of our driveway with our arms around each other's waists.
"We are really going to miss them."
"Yes, we are."
"We couldn't ask for better neighbors and better friends."
"Yes, it is hard to imagine they will be gone soon."
Just then the engine of the moving van roars to life, headlights come on and the moving van slowly backs out of the driveway across the street from our home.
Sam, a young boy growing up on a farm, spent many hours watching the ducks on the farm's pond. Sam often approached the ducks only to have them swim or fly away in fear.
One day, a duckling waddled over to him and started to eat some breadcrumbs that had dropped from his peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Sam was amazed that as he reached down to pick up the duckling, it was not afraid of him. With the duckling still eating a few remaining breadcrumbs in his hand, Sam decided on the spot to keep the duckling as a pet.
