“Dad, I’m not going to be able to make it home for Father’s Day this weekend,” Ryan said. “Some of the guys and I are going to go to a friend’s wedding.”
“Sure, son,” I replied after a beat. I may have seemed pretty mellow, but inside I was devastated. Twentytwo years of tradition—gone. Our family was close, and we’d always spent holidays together. Father’s Day was my favorite. We’d go to church in the morning and afterward head home and fire up the grill on the patio. Ryan and his younger brother, Roman, would join me for some quality time, grilling meats and talking sports. I looked forward to it all year, especially since Ryan had gone off to college.
I didn’t let my disappointment show though. I told Ryan to be safe and have fun and said goodbye. I guess it had been naive to expect he’d always be with us for the holidays. Ryan was growing up, and spending more time away from his parents was a rite of passage.
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Ivy Dishes
“My mom found a house for us to look at,” said my fiancé, Jon. “It’s in Richfield, not far from where I grew up.”
The Duet
“Can you perform a hymn for us next week?” my pastor asked me after Sunday service.
The Girl in the Dream
Was this a church? The high, vaulted ceilings made it seem like one—almost but not exactly.
News From Around Our Wonderful World
Liverpool, England Joanne Carr is hailing her son, Dougie McInerney, as her guardian angel.
A Light in the Blizzard
I stepped on the gas and shifted into drive, then reverse, then back into drive again.
Straight From the Fish's Mouth
Florence, Italy. I’d been there before on one of those scruffy five-dollar-a-day youth-hostel jaunts through Europe, but now, just graduated from college, I was wondering what to do with my life.
Divine Callings
Have you ever felt called to a purpose?
Dad's Voice
As I reached to turn off the lamp on my bedside table, my eyes fell on the card my brother Isaac had given each of us siblings on what would have been Dad’s sixty-eighth birthday.
Ben's Answer
It was midafternoon, and I was already curled up on the couch in the living room with no plans to move.
A Doll's Hat
My fears around the surgery built all day.... God, please let me be as strong as my young patients are.
THE hope squad
We've teamed up with good-news hub Hope Rises to share its most moving and inspiring stories.
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A Few Good Men
Valley Forge Military Academy bills itself as a school that breaks down young cadets and builds them back better. It succeeds at one of those things.
Living For the Morment
Mindful and focused on staying in the present, Demi Lovato is ready to rock once again
Be Yourself. Inspire Others
Today's political minefields are so explosive that a step in any direction can seem perilous. But nobody ever inspired a following by standing in place.
Summer Music Festivals to Get Your Groove On
What seemed a relic of the past amidst COVID-19 lockdowns and social distancing precautions are now back in full force. This summer promises a music festival resurgence, with events taking place all over the world. Across festivals, lineups are both highlighting international talent and championing local artists. From Afro Nation on the pristine Portuguese seaside to Glastonbury in rural England to Fuji Rock in a Japanese forest, live music lovers of every genre have a lot to anticipate. Let the music play!
Kaley: WHY I'LL NEVER MARRY AGAIN
Kaley Cuoco is taking a vow – and it's not the wedding kind!
The Memory Floor - GEOFFREY ANSEL AGRONS
After over four years in the San Francisco Bay area, I returned to the east coast in 2015 to assist in the care of my aging parents. Unfortunately, their physical and cognitive decline proceeded to advance inexorably. Separately, each spent the end of their lives in facilities dedicated to caring for residents with dementia, most commonly the Alzheimer's type. They received excellent support from a dedicated and compassionate staff, and each, in turn, entered hospice until their death.
THE CURSE of the CARAVAGGIO
The master's only ceiling mural resides in this grand palazzo, where a dynastic feud between Roman nobility and Texan moxie is the talk of the Eternal City.
Not Quite a Religious Experience
The Shaker-inspired Commerce Inn underwhelms our critic.