I just returned from Lauren"s surprise wedding shower. She was completely awed. She came on the pretense of picking up a couch for her apartment in North Dakota. There was a couch for her, yes, but we also celebrated her upcoming nuptials. Lots of family and friends including her male maid of honor who could not attend the wedding in ND. As part of the celebration, I was asked to create a list of questions for Lauren Trivia.. I made them super easy like favorite color (purple), common fear (arachnophobia), and other minor stuff. One question's answer included a short anecdote. Q: How old was Lauren when she first made her Dad cry? A: When she was three, I called for her to come play a game with me. We sat on the floor opposite each other and I placed three objects between us; a pen, a dollar bill and a toy of some kind. It's traditional, in China maybe, to see which object a child chooses. It's supposedly indicative of what the child will choose as their life's goal. The pen represents wisdom, the money is, well, money and the toy represents fun. Without explaining this to Lauren, I merely asked her to choose one of the items. She stared earnestly at each one for an entire minute and then scooted towards them. I was anxious to see which one she would choose. She reached out her little arm and swept all the items aside and crawled into my arms. I didn't even know I was a choice. I sat there, cradling her in my arms and wept.


One Reply to It's My Honor to Be Her Father

Scott Hardie | June 27, 2020
Great story, Steve. I can't imagine all of the emotions that you and Brenda are going through right now. Kelly and I wish all of you the best in this transition and beyond.


Web Junkie

Steve West scours the Web searching for interest or absurdity and then shakes his head ruefully when he finds it. Read more »

If I Had A Hammer...

I once heard Leonard Nimoy singing this old Pete Seeger tune and it almost gave me epileptic convulsions. It has nothing to do with this link of an amazing artist who works with Hammer and Nails. It's just that whenever I see a hammer or box of nails or even a picture of Karen Carpenter - that's the song that leaps into my head. Go »

Like Mother Teresa, Only Better

If you recognize the title of this post, then you are already familiar with Jenny Lawson, aka The Bloggess. I had the opportunity to meet her, briefly, at the Barnes & Noble book signing in Annapolis this weekend. She was larger than life and incredibly funny as she adlibbed before reading a selection from her book, Let's Pretend This Never Happened. Go »

Love Letter and Goodbye

I had a very strange thing happen to me this morning. Overnight, I had a dream that featured my ex-wife, Betsy. I told Brenda about it and wondered what the image of Betsy represented in my subconscious that made me wake with such a clear image of her. Go »

For What It's Worth...

Round-up of the fun and weird. At last! The taste the world has been waiting for. Go »

Let Loose The Pigeons!

I got a phone call today from my Service Coordinator of Prince George's County officially welcoming me and my daughter, Olivia, into the Autism Waiver program - a state funded program intended for families with an autistic child offering funds for state approved services such as Aqua therapy, Occupational community trips, Speech therapy and even respite for Brenda and I. This has been a nine year wait since getting a diagnosis for Olivia at age 2. The waiting list is horrific. Go »

I'm a Doctor, Not a Kitchen Appliance!

My toaster has a timer on it that let's you know when it's finished. It seems a little silly to add a timer beeping that's a redundant addition to the toast loudly popping up from the machine that means the same thing. So now, because the timer emits a sound eerily similar to an EKG indicating flatline, every time it goes off I'll say to Brenda, "He's bread, Jim." Go »