David Casstevens of the Dallas Morning News tells a story about Frank Szymanski, a Notre Dame center in the 1940s, who had been called as a witness in a civil suit at South Bend. “Are you on the Notre Dame football team this year?” the judge asked. “Yes, Your Honor.” “What...

“Your wife has suffered abuptio-placenta. The baby is now on its eight month but he’s in distress; his heart is beating faster than that of a running dog’s. You will have to make a choice, sir. Shall we try to save your wife or your child?” I struggled to assimilate the doctor’s...

Once when I was a teenager, my father and I were standing in line to buy tickets for the circus. Finally, there was only one family between us and the ticket counter. This family made a big impression on me. There were eight children, all probably under the age of 12. You could tell they didn’t...

I can honestly say it was the best of times and the worst of times. I was joyfully expecting my first child at the same time that my once-energetic, zestful mother was losing her battle with a brain tumor. For ten years, my fiercely independent and courageous mother had fought, but none of the surgeries...

In September 1960, I woke up one morning with six hungry babies and just 75 cents in my pocket. Their father was gone. The boys ranged from three months to seven years; their sister was two. Their Dad had never been much more than a presence they feared. Whenever they heard his tires crunch on the gravel...

You have heard of the cup that overflowed. This is a story of a bucket that is like the cup, only larger, it is an invisible bucket. Everyone has one. It determines how we feel about ourselves, about others, and how we get along with people. Have you ever experienced a series of very favorable things...

One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return from their trip, the father asked his son,...

It happened again! I was enjoying an evening with my little 2-yr. old son at the playground when, BAM, it happened. You ever have one of those moments in life when you know you are being taught an important lesson? Picture in your mind a chaotic atmosphere of over fifty little children battling for their...

Last week I attended a presentation from Parenting Expert and well-known author, Stephen Biddulph on “Raising Boys”. As I have an 11 year old son, I was interested to hear what Stephen had to say. In fact, so were the other 800 other parents in the room! The key point that I picked up on...

Here are six characteristics of a solid, successful family owned or other closely held company. If you see your own company reflected in all of them, be proud of your achievements. If you see your company in only a few – or none – of these characteristics, then you have some important goals to work...