Holiday letters, 2016 – 2019
In an effort to hold onto some of our recently past family moments, I’m reaching back to our last four holiday letters and posting them here for long-term safekeeping. 2016 2017 2018 2019
90 years of a life well lived and some wisdom
*Note: This essay was published in the Colorado Springs Gazette print edition on October 8, 2017. It can also be found online here. My grandmother-in-law turns 90 this weekend, so I called and announced myself with a self-deprecating ice breaker: “It’s your good-for-nothing grandson-in-law.” Before I got the last syllable out, she pushed back with infectious positivity,…
Good marriage is a connection where two shine as one
*Note: This essay was published in the Colorado Springs Gazette print edition on September 22, 2017. It can also be found online here. Chances are you’re going to a wedding soon. 40 percent of weddings now take place as the fall sets in and leaves change color, up from 30 percent in 2009, according to the largest…
The Way Home from ‘A War’
*Note: This essay was published at War on the Rocks on February 11, 2016. It can also be found online here. Something is revealing in Denmark; Hamlet would be proud. In this case, it is the third film from writer/director Tobias Lindholm (English title: A War, Danish: Krigen — Danish with English subtitles). This Academy Award-nominated Best…
The Painful Privilege: Why Deployed Soldiers Feel Like ‘The Walking Dead’
*Note: This essay was published at War on the Rocks on July 30, 2015. It can also be found online here. My birthday is today, and it hurts. I’m a deployed Army officer, living a half marathon distance from the Demilitarized Zone in Korea and 6,000 miles from home (which may as well read “1,000,000”). Service is…
On Deployment: Love and Duty in Modern War
*Note: This essay was published at War on the Rocks on June 25, 2015. It can also be found online here. Ellen DeGeneres is wrong. Misleading, maybe. Her show features military family reunions, following a year of separation, complete with hugs, kisses — all for the cameras. Sometimes even a free trip. The audience loves it; millions…
A Real “Silver Linings Playbook”
This past September, my younger brother Kevin gave a modified, generic greeting card to my wife Rachel and I, that, in conclusion, read: “you saved my life.” I hugged him and reminded him of how far he had come through his hard work. Then, when Rachel and I went up to bed, in the quiet…