They are who they are, and help them to feel good about that My kids are now 33 and 31 years of age. Looking back, I can see that they were who they are from the moment they were born. From even before they could walk or talk, they displayed…

“Find the Cost of Freedom” We put a lot of stock in bravery here in the great U.S. of A. We lauded the firefighters and other first responders for meeting almost certain death head on during the terrorist attacks on 9/11 in their efforts to save lives. We similarly supported…

There is something special about White Plains By Charlie Norris It has always been my belief that the true mark of a society is how it cares for its elderly and how it educates its young to prepare them to accept the baton and carry things forward. History is replete…

WARNING!! Don’t read this if you are no older than 17, or maybe 40 I am not a fatalist, and I am not trying to be maudlin, and I still view myself as hip and youthful, but when the clock ticked past my 63rd birthday last December, I began considering…

The eulogy I would have delivered for my mother-in-law but for COVID How does one encapsulate and summarize any life in a few words, particularly the life of a force of nature like Jo Falcone? The truth is, you can’t. All you can do is try to paint a picture…

IT’S TIME WE LISTENED AND LEARNED FROM THE CHILDREN They don’t want to die in school By the time I attended high school in the 1970’s the VietnamWar was over, and with it the draft. I had no fear of dying in some far-off rice paddy. In no particular order…

IT STARTED WITH A SUITCASE Rekindling Love During a Pandemic For the first time since the pandemic gripped the world in 2020, I took the commuter train into Manhattan on Wednesday to have lunch with my longtime business partner and friend. I was excited as I boarded the train in…

9/11; Some Thoughts on What the Legacy Might Have Been It’s hard to believe that it has been 20 years since that fateful day of September 11, 2001, yet the memories are as vivid and intact as if it was yesterday. Like most folks of at least a certain age…

Reflections on skin color and talking to kids. One evening when my daughter Nicole was four years old, we were sitting at the dinner table and she asked me a very important question, “hey Dad, why is Michael’s skin brown?” I realized at once this was a very critical teachable…