Family dynamics have always fascinated me.  In my family there were three children.  Nancy was the eldest.  Then, after 4 years, I arrived.  Two years later my brother, Marty, was born.  My Dad was the 9th of 10 children.  My wife is an only child.  Who had the best situation? It’s hard to say. When I was growing up I was intensely jealous of and threatened by my younger brother.  He seemed to be catching up to me in size every day until finally he was taller than I was.  From then on, people often commented,  “Gee, that’s funny. ...

A friend of mine once described a harrowing experience he had when learning how to fly a small plane.  He had been progressing nicely and it was now time to be flight tested.  His instructor had him bring the plane up to 5,000 feet. He then placed a hood over my friend’s head so he couldn’t see anything.  During this time, the instructor messed up every control he could think of so that the plane was unable to fly without stalling, spinning and sputtering.  My friend was told to remove his hood and get the plane back under control.  He had to do...

For more years than I am comfortable admitting, I harbored a great deal of resentment toward my parents.  Over time I had built quite an airtight case against them.  I blamed them for being too strict  and for my feeling pressured to live up to their expectations.  I resented my mom for her critical judgments of my girlfriends, my hair length,  my sideburns and for all of her unsolicited comments that I was sure ruined my self-esteem and contributed to my self-consciousness around others.  I resented my father for openly criticizing my diet, my non-traditional...