A Retired Nun Challenges My Manhood

Saturday, February 4th, 2012
Last Monday I received a telephone call from a retired nun who reads my articles every week.  I’ve known this particular nun for over 20 years.  Even though she’s “retired,” she works harder than most people who are half her age.  She’s a very holy and humble woman who cares greatly about the Catholic Church… Read More

A Punk Kid & The Student Teacher

Saturday, January 28th, 2012
When I graduated from a Catholic grade school in 1971, I was determined to never look back.  I got off to a bad start in first grade and every year after that got worse.  I was more than ready to move on.  I looked forward to starting high school with a blank slate and an entire new group of teachers who had never heard of me. I was actually excited on the evening my dad drove… Read More

Rebellion & Ruination

Saturday, January 21st, 2012
Imagine you’re 20 years old and you recently had to drop out of college because you ran out of money.  Until a couple of months ago, your parents were providing you with financial assistance, but that ended when the company your dad was working for closed down and laid off all of its employees. You’re the “baby” of the family.  You have 2 older brothers and 2 older sisters.  One of your… Read More

The Tavern Owners Club

Saturday, October 1st, 2011
Did you know that at one time Peoria was known as the “Whiskey Capital” of Illinois?  According to a PeoriaMagazines.com article written by Jerry Klein, between 1837 and 1919, there were 24 breweries and 73 distilleries in Peoria.  In another publication, “A Brief History of Peoria,” published by C.A. Cockle in 1896, it was noted that out of all of the breweries in Peoria,… Read More

The True “Reality” of Television

Saturday, August 27th, 2011
[caption id="attachment_598" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Dad, Mom & the "Beaver" in Leave It To Beaver"][/caption] If you get your daily dose of news from the Internet, you probably saw the headline last week about the suicide of the husband of a reality show “star.”  His name was Russell Armstrong and prior to his death he appeared with his wife… Read More