“What are anger issues, Daddy?” My ever-perceptive 6-yr-old asked me this on the ride to school a few days ago, having somehow heard the term mentioned in his classroom. A week earlier, just 2 days after the conclusion of an absolutely mental Art Basel, this very boy stood barefoot and shirtless in my studio, hands gloved in hunter-green watercolor paint, splotches on his shorts, inner arms and legs, one patch in the middle of his back. Home sick from school, I had to bring h

“What are your favorite books of all time,” I asked my 81-yr-old father. “I’ll have to think about that,” he told me, raking his fingers through his thick gray hair. My dad is a bright, gregarious man who closes his eyes and throws back his head when he laughs, which is often. He’s a seaman and a spinner of yarns, though I would not describe him as a reader. I did not know which books he cherished. And, when he got back to me after a week, his choices showed me so much … ab

“I arranged for Kai and me to fly over the Golden Gate Bridge in a seaplane. Can you believe how cool that’s gonna be!!” I told my wife recently. Kai is five. That was her cue to say, “Wow … he’s gonna be BLOWN AWAY! I wish my dad did that. You’re one AMAZING FATHER.” Instead, I got a sour look of disapproving concern. I understand that her job as mommy is to be wary of danger, yet this irked me, because the boy in me knew that this would make a father-son moment for the reco

Silent gratitude isn’t much use to anyone. G.B. Stern. Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. William Arthur Ward. If a fellow isn’t thankful for what he’s got, he isn’t likely to be thankful for what he’s going to get. Frank A. Clark. Act with kindness, but do not expect gratitude. Confucius. Gratitude preserves old friendships, and procures new. Anonymous. God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to s

The purest thought you’ll hear all day from my friend’s 5 yr old daughter, Sula. “Sweet Sula – during our nighttime snuggle, she asked if she could listen to my heart. She put her ear to my chest and then said joyfully, “I hear Harley.” She listened to my heart again and said, “I hear GrandMyron.” On the next listen, she said, “I hear GrandMary” whom she never met in this life. Then as I left her room, she said, “Mommy, when you talk to Harley in your heart tell him I love hi