“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and when you pass through the rivers they will not sweep over you.”- Isaiah 43: 2 In summertime the Great Snowball Wars of the 1960’s were a faded, frozen memory, replaced by the more genteel and gentrified sport of croquet- played mostly on the […]
Two days before her death at age 87, worn from her battle with large and small cell lymphoma, my mother Elinor made a conscious decision to have her feeding tube removed. When I arrived at Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital to visit her, Mom’s nurse took me out in the hallway and implored me to ask […]
” . . . let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race set before us.”- Hebrews 12: 1 In the dark ages of track and field, when event distances were measured in impractical and antiquated units call yards, I ran the […]
“When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations delight my soul.”- Psalm 94:19 (NASB) The time- spring, 1939. The place- Chicago, IL. In my dad’s senior high school yearbook, the Harper Shield, he is photographed standing on a staircase (in suit and tie!) with his fellow “Booth Officials”- students who sold tickets to various […]
It’s late fall, 1965. My mother Elinor is standing at the kitchen stove, preparing dinner. Her persistent cough is not getting any better. She voices how poorly she’s been feeling. Concerned that whatever she has is contagious, mom takes many precautions to ensure that dad and I stay well. Around January mom receives her diagnosis […]
When my cousin Paul Dahlke and I were around 20 years old, our families gathered for an Easter Sunday dinner at my parents’ home. Following the meal, Paul and I decided to shoot baskets at a playground court a block away. We had just started shooting when two strangers arrived. Convinced that Paul and I were […]
About 20 years ago, I was privileged to play harpsichord for a presentation of the Easter portion of Handel’s Messiah at Hales Corners Lutheran Church under the direction of Hib Wiedenkeller. In oratorios of the Baroque Era, the harpsichord’s primary function was to provide a steady rhythm that held all the other instruments together. Playing […]
The Lord called Samuel a third time, and Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” Then Eli realized the Lord was calling the boy. So he told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say,’Speak, Lord, for you servant is listening.’ “- 1 Samuel […]
A voice of one calling: “In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low, the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.”- Isaiah 40:3-4 Approximately 10 days before recording “Desert […]
Once upon a time, long before global warming was a twinkle in Mother Nature’s eye, snow fell abundantly in Evergreen Park, IL. Utilizing the protection of snow forts constructed approximately 40 feet apart on our neighboring front lawns, my friend Cliff and I engaged in the Great Snowball Wars of the early 1960s. With our […]
When I was 2 or 3 years old, I developed a severe case of wanderlust, fueled by unbridled curiosity. Eager to escape the confining environs of my back yard in Evergreen Park, IL or my parents’ immediate reach, I was a constant escape threat. Although I had the “fever”, my parents had the cure- aka […]
During my senior year at Luther South High School in Chicago, IL, I was the accompanist for the 71-voice A Cappella Choir, South’s concert ensemble. As December approached, we had the opportunity to record a Christmas album for Delta Records. The sessions took place on 2 midweek evenings following a full day of classes. The […]