Using the “f” word was a criminal offense punishable in the most severe way in my childhood home. One of my favorite scenes from A Christmas story was when Ralphie utters the f*ck word. It…
The day that changed my life
February 21, 1970 was not a typical Saturday morning. I would normally be glued to the TV watching cartoons. Instead, I was preparing to visit my father in Alliance City Hospital. He was being transferred…
Appearance, health, or weight
I nervously scanned the people in the conference room at Summa Akron City Hospital on that cold January night in 2008. I was taking my first step towards bariatric surgery by attending a weight loss…
Two years and twelve lessons later
Facebook reminded me this morning that two years ago I walked out of my office and into retired life. Two years later, I am still discovering life as a retired person. Last year, I reflected…
2018 bike tours in 10 words and images
Community I toured Florida’s Space Coast in early spring on Bike Florida’s supported weeklong tour. Like Ohio’s GOBA, this ride is a moving community of cyclists where people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities return…
Pigs in a blanket aka stuffed cabbage aka toltott kaposzta
You think you know what pigs in a blanket are? Do you think they are little smokies wrapped and baked in crescent roll dough? Delicious but not the same thing in Alliance, Ohio where people…
Christmas memories trilogy
The Christmas Lion Christmas was white when I was a kid. It was rare for Northeast Ohio to not be blanketed with a coat of snow. I as probably 5 or 6 years old when…
Kolach, Hungarian nut roll
Kolach is certainly on the Christmas tables of Hungarian-American homes. I saw this sweet bread called beigli at Budapest’s Great Market Hall. It is known in most Eastern European homes by other names: kolachi, kolache,…