When Liz and I were pregnant with our first son, my grandmother gave me something very special. She handed me a small, felt-covered box and said, “Your grandfather wanted you to have this.” I slowly opened the taupe encasement to reveal a small diamond set in a slightly embellished gold band. It was the same ring I had seen on my grandfather’s weathered hand many times before he died—it was his ring. This year marks fourteen years since Paw-Paw Ham passed […]
We shouldn’t have to watch cancer debilitate our loved ones as we pray to God for healing, only to feel like those prayers have fallen on deaf ears. In a perfect world, little girls walk down the aisle with their father by their side; men shake hands with their soon-to-be father-in-law as he hands over his daughter’s hand in marriage; and eventually, grandfathers enjoy precious time with their grandchildren. But our world isn’t perfect. It’s broken. Visiting Her Father My wife and I were in […]
The fluorescent lights hum overhead. Their dull buzz increases the vague fog creating a sense of dreaming. Has he been here for two minutes, two hours, or two days? He doesn’t know the reality of the furious work going on around him. The work to save his life. Now on his back, he can make out a number of men standing around him. They speak English, but use language he does not understand. They read charts and look at monitors […]
A number of years ago, our family started a Christmas tradition. Around the 22nd or 23rd of December, we’d load up Paw-Paw’s Yukon as if it were Santa’s sleigh, don Santa caps and reindeer antlers, and we’d bombard friends with carols and Christmas Vacation quotes. By the end of the night, we’d be reduced to an off-key version of “Mele Kelikimaka” and “We Wish You A Merry Christmas.” After a few years, friends and family began expecting our craziness. Two staples in […]
My grandfather, Mendel Ham, grew up on a farm in rural South Carolina. Racial inequality was rampant in the Deep South during the 1930’s, but one of his best friends was an African-American farm hand. That pretty much sums up my grandfather—the stares and jeers weren’t strong enough to break his spirit. I didn’t know him as a young man, but I try to envision him approaching my grandmother to ask her on their first date. Or, see him as an eighteen-year old marine, serving our country […]
I was thirty-two. My wife and I had grown accustomed to a new definition of marriage, one layered with the responsibilities of raising three boys. The fact that they were all under the age of three just added to the adventure. I was a young professional, focused on building my insurance agency in my hometown of Wilmington, North Carolina. What happened next changed everything. One morning, I was overcome with a longing to write, as if a story from somewhere […]
What do you know about Otis Redding? Otis Redding (Wiki link) was one of the most influential soul singers of the 1960’s, a black artist emerging in a very challenging time in our country’s history. He tragically died in a plane crash at 26 years old, just as his star was beginning to shine. Only a six months earlier, he had closed the Monterey Pop Festival, sharing the stage with acts such as Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and The Who. […]
We get busy in life. Matt reminds us of why we dedicate ourselves to something other than ourselves.
- Robert Wagnon, CEO, Republic State Mortgage
