Those printing brothers from York, England.
Once upon a time there were 5 Gibson brothers from York, England: Robert, Stephen, George, Samuel, and John. According to Great American Press, they settled in the United States in 1850. Printing had been the family business, so they “brought with them a French handpress to jump start their new lives and business opportunities in […]
A Bouncing Boulder – and Emma Woodhouse.
When Darren was young, he spent a lot of time with his siblings at his favorite Grandma’s house, who lived close to them in their small southern California town. One such day his older sister and one of his older brothers were down at his Grandma’s creek and they started teasing him. Darren, the feisty […]
Efficacy and “Question Coleen.”
Recently I had a client tell me that she thought she’d done a disservice to her teenager. “She’s so used to me fixing everything for her that now she can’t figure out how to do it on her own. I can see so clearly that it’s my fault,” she told me. I decided to tell […]
A large ladybug and having a say.
When my dad was being recruited to the University of Utah from the University of Minnesota, I was 7½ years old. There are a plethora of reasons why he decided to accept the offer, not the least of which was the closer proximity to both his and mom’s families in California. At that time I […]
Someone who sincerely praises.
Sometimes, when a client is so frustrated with someone in their life that they practically want to poke their own eyes out, I ask them to pause and do something that, at first, sounds really, really hard. I ask them to give that person a little sincere, authentic praise. They don’t want to. […]
My version of the story.
One of the first things I bought with my very own big-kid-job money was a 1992 green manual transmission Jeep Cherokee Sport. It was way out of my price range and for sure not a smart purchase for a first year teacher, but it helped me feel more like ME, and gosh, I loved that […]
Christmas in California.
I lived the first eight years of my life in a suburb of North Western Minneapolis called Golden Valley. I’m proud to tell people that Minnesota air was the first air I breathed. My dad was recruited to the University of Minnesota early in his career, and 5 of the 11 kids in my family […]
Mr. Nobody
In the house in which most of my siblings and I grew up, there was a long straight hall in between my parent’s room and my dad’s study. The hallway had dark brown short shag carpet, two electrical outlets, one picture of Jesus, 6 doors, and an attic access on the ceiling. Does it sound […]
Pasta Mondays.
One of the things my husband remembers most about his growing up years in their small California town is Mondays. Because on Mondays, his beautiful Italian mother made pasta. It was a whole day event and included Old World recipes and hours of simmering sauces and hand cut noodles. He would be the helper […]
Sally can’t open the door.
50 years ago I was a little 5-year-old all set to go to kindergarten in my suburban Minneapolis neighborhood. My mom told me recently she was surprised by how brave I was about going to school. She did not know back then how much school would be a part of my life, but she […]
