Mo’s note: I originally wrote this last July in the days after losing my friend, Laura Valko Vasseur, to a stroke but didn’t publish it as things were too fresh, too sad. She was six weeks from her 40th birthday. It’s been almost five years since Jen and I put out the call on […]
An Open Letter to Lee Brice
Dear Lee Brice, You don’t know me, but your song, “I Drive Your Truck” could have been written about me. Since college, I have always tried to hit the open road when I’m upset. I once drove all the way from Mt. Pleasant, Michigan to Chicago in my beat up Buick Regal with my best […]
Things I’ve Learned About Life Through Death
The month of July is a bittersweet one for me. My dad's birthday, our family reunion, Paperboy's birthday, and Mike's birthday. A palatable sadness lingers on July 23rd. The Mandleys aren't as cheerful, we're withdrawn, tears often linger in our eyes…. As time stretches on without our beloved Michael Ryan, I've learned a few things. […]
“Memory… is the diary that we all carry about with us.”
~ Oscar Wilde Several weeks ago, I was sitting on my couch, quietly reading a book and I glanced up. My eyes lingered on a Vettriano print I have hanging in the corner and as I began thinking about the painting I realized…. It's gotta go. "Dance Me To The End of Love" is a […]
“A successful marriage requires falling in love many times…
… always with the same person." ~ Mignon McLaughlin Before Clark dumped me (okay, okay, he didn't dump me), we were trying to make arrangements to meet. "How about Tuesday?" he asked. "Can't on Tuesday. I have a wedding to go to." "A wedding? Who gets married on a Tuesday?" "My dad." I started grinning. […]
Stuff I Could Not Make Up Even If I Tried
Little vignettes of things that have truly happened to me but aren't worth an entire dedicated post. My friends Mark and Kony in Chicago had a vegetable garden behind their garage that yielded copious amounts of vegetables. One night, after having dinner together, Mark sent us home with this huge zucchini. It was as big […]
“If what you are doing is not moving you towards your goals…
… then it's moving you away from your goals." — Brian Tracy I know I’ve been rather quiet lately on my blog, but it’s simply because so much has been happening these past several weeks that I’m lucky I wake up in the morning with my head still attached. You see, I’ve spent the past […]
“Wherever I am you’ll always be / More than just a memory….” Flogging Molly
It's time for another entertaining Michael story. This is a family favorite. It was either Thanksgiving weekend or Christmas vacation, but either way, it was in the mid-90s and I was home from college (Go! Fire up, Chips!). My girlfriend Liz, a Spartan, was also home and it was decided a trip to The Somerset […]
“Our brothers and sisters are there with us from the dawn of our personal stories…
… to the inevitable dusk." – Susan Scarf Merrell I'm the oldest child of Jim and Sue, my sister Meagan is the youngest, and there, in the middle, was Michael (as you can see, my parents had a thing about M's). Unfortunately for our family, the inevitable dusk of Michael Ryan's life was August 23, […]