Family – Steve Larsen

Going off to college is scary. When my oldest granddaughter went from two decades of daily contact with parents, family and friends, 1500 miles away to a new state where she’d be totally on her own, I worried. Making College Friendships I wanted to encourage her to not feel lonely, and to make new friends…

Going off to college is scary. When my oldest granddaughter went from two decades of daily contact with parents, family and friends, 1500 miles away to a new state where she’d be totally on her own, I worried. College Anxiety So, I chose to write her an email, based on my memories of this transition…

Here’s a letter I sent to my oldest granddaughter the week she headed to Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, AZ. Dear Emmy, As you begin your first year at college, I’m full of both pride and a bit of worry—a mix of excitement and nerves. What follows is a bit of advice, but not commandments.…

A few weeks ago, over dinner, I listened to a friend share his excitement about moving in with his boyfriend. As we talked about their plans, he also mentioned his partner’s struggles with a father’s persistent lack of acceptance. I was instantly empathetic, unfortunately, it wasn’t my first encounter with this sort of thinking. I’d…

Returning from 17 days visiting Australia this week, it wasn’t hard to recall a good number of surprising and unexpected things we discovered that happened “down under.” Our first stop, Sydney, and nearly all other cities we visited long enough to get a good impression of them, which included Melbourne, Geelong, Hobart, and Port…

How Your Life’s Experiences Create a Beautiful Tapestry

Life’s experiences are not isolated—they are threads woven into a greater masterpiece. This article explores how challenges, passions, and relationships interconnect to shape a richer, more meaningful existence. Recognizing these connections allows us to appreciate the full tapestry of our lives. Read the full article here.

Late last year I had the opportunity to see an early screening of the film, SHOT IN THE ARM. I just learned it is currently streaming for free on PBS.org and the PBS app. Produced and Directed by Academy Award nominee Scott Hamilton Kennedy and Executive produced by the brilliant Neil deGrasse Tyson, this is…

The Netflix documentary Tell Them you Love Me sheds remarkable insight into a world filled with amazing stories of newly found literacy in nonspeaking people. It provides this understanding without preaching or throwing out a lot of facts, but through brilliant storytelling. While not always easy to watch, I found it riveting. Anna Stubblefield, a…

Watching daughter Ginger and future son-in-law deliver the news of their wedding engagement, and hearing the details of the proposal and ring unveiling, triggered memories of my proposal to Maggie, Ginger’s mother. There is a chance future son-in-law Chris may share a similar romantic planning ineptitude gene with me. Leading up to my proposal to…

While religion played an over-sized role in my early life, in my later years that role has changed so much that I’ve been reluctant to write about it for fear of offending family members and close friends. In the past ten years, I’ve begun to relax a bit more around the subject as I’ve been…

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