Our experience in Belgium taught me an important life lesson: sometimes, even when you follow the directions and listen to the experts, you still end up somewhere you never expected. You can do everything right and still find yourself off course.
We built a series of brush huts and underground hideouts and secret bases all across our glorious outdoor kingdom—a kingdom now covered with streets and homes and parking lots and shopping centers and more cars zooming in every direction than an...
There, coiled and ready to strike, was a Mojave green rattlesnake. Its tongue flickered in and out as it locked its eyes on me, and for a moment, time stood still. My heart pounded in my chest; I could feel the blood drain from my face.
I loved watching Cubs baseball and listening to Harry Caray’s distinct cadence and unrestrained enthusiasm when calling a game. For me, Harry Caray was a master at creating a shared language and a communal space where stories unfolded and life lessons were inadvertently taught—stories that revealed the deeper truths about our lives, our hearts, and our society.