A son-in-law’s grief

At approximately 5:15 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 1, my mother-in-law called me on my mobile phone as I was driving out of the parking garage at work in Midtown Atlanta. “Lanny has been in accident,” were the words that began a journey for our family that culminated in another phone call, at about 10 a.m. … Continue reading A son-in-law’s grief →

Veggie tales

With age comes responsibility, and one of the responsibilities of children aged 5 and older in our house is eating vegetables. Lest you think Carla and I are unreasonable parents, we are not clean platers. The quantity of the food consumed is not our beef, so to speak. We insist our children eat vegetables as … Continue reading Veggie tales →

Carrying cash

There is no amount of wealth that can surpass the all-too-rare occurrence of having a wallet full of cash. In these days when plastic pays for everything, the times in which I have actual greenbacks on my person are so few that I can’t help but feel special. It doesn’t matter if its $7. Carrying … Continue reading Carrying cash →

Lions and monkeys and turtles, oh my!

For the past two weeks, Carlton has been without his favorite sleep-aid: Lion. This now raggedy stuffed animal with the roaring voice box that hasn’t worked in several years has been his constant sleeping companion for the better part of five years. But two weeks ago, a weekend with the grandparents was so much fun … Continue reading Lions and monkeys and turtles, oh my! →

A trip to Georgia’s oldest city to feel new again

I’ve kicked around Georgia now for more than 21 years, almost half my life. In all that time, I had only been to Savannah twice. The third time was definitely a charm last weekend as Carla and I were able to parlay a work event Friday night into an excuse to leave the boys with … Continue reading A trip to Georgia’s oldest city to feel new again →

News? What news?

I get my news from Will McAvoy. The fact that he’s a fictional news anchor and the events he’s reporting on are two years old is really immaterial. My good friend, Bob, gave me season one of the HBO series “The Newsroom” on Blu-ray for my birthday this year, and it took me and Carla … Continue reading News? What news? →

Party planners

When did planning a child’s birthday party become a logistical nightmare? Maybe some folks -- you denizens of Pinterest, for example -- love this delightful opportunity, but it's beginning to wear on me. As we prepare for Carlton’s fifth birthday celebration, Carla and I face strange dilemmas that didn’t seem to surface with his older brothers’ … Continue reading Party planners →

The most important meal

The phrase “part of a balanced breakfast” is on the sound track of my childhood. It was included in every super sugary cereal commercial during my decade-long consumption of Saturday morning cartoons. If Cookie Crisp is part of a balanced breakfast, then there had to be some really healthy stuff to go with it to balance it … Continue reading The most important meal →

The lost art of listening

Hello, my name is Lance, and I have listening problem. This week I attended one of those four-hour workplace training sessions on emotional intelligence. It included an exercise on active listening. I was horrible. The humiliating experience caused me to reexamine a fundamental assumption about myself. Deep down, I believe that I have pretty good … Continue reading The lost art of listening →

One year and counting

Today marks the first anniversary of my joining Georgia Tech Research Institute as director of communications. I kept mentioning it to people all week because in some ways, I just couldn’t believe it. A year had flown by, and I have alternatingly felt like I have always worked at GTRI and it is my first … Continue reading One year and counting →