Author: Steve Ainslie

Nothing good happens at 2 in the morning. That’s when I’m out most mornings with Wiggles doing our first walk of the day. We both enjoy it. It’s dark. It’s quiet. We have the entire street and both sidewalks to explore. We see families of deer, dozens of bunnies, bats, and occasional owls. There are…

Back in the old days, before voicemail, answering machines, portable phones and Caller ID, my wife would go crazy when the phone rang. She’d drop whatever she was doing, stop a conversation mid-sentence and dive across the room to answer it. I found that annoying beyond belief. I was insulted that she’d interrupt a conversation…

I have only vague memories of life during my 20s after I moved in with my future wife and her kids. I remember being stressed and busy all the time. I remember working a lot and struggling to pay the bills. I remember our lives being dominated by kids – getting them up for school,…

I was thinking about the women I’ve loved this morning when it occurred to me that only two of them were good matches for me – my first girlfriend and my last girlfriend (who became my wife). In between, I had several girlfriends, many crushes and dated dozens of others. In addition, as a widower,…

It Is fittingly ironic that just a few weeks after I wrote this post about not being able to relate to any grief support books, websites or podcasts, that I listened to the most helpful discussion on grief I have heard since my wife died nearly 5 years ago. The irony is in both the…

Yesterday, I met with a friend in downtown Raleigh for lunch. I hadn’t been downtown (or beyond the borders of my suburban enclave) for months. Driving through the commercial districts and then visiting the city center always have an impact on me. This time, it was the homeless people. At major intersections on the way…

When I married my wife (and for the 10 years prior that we lived as a couple before I could convince her to marry me) I was 100% committed to being with her until “death do we part”. I adored her and cherished our relationship. After our first few months together, the thought of breaking…

When I had to travel out of town for work, I tried to manage my schedule so that could maximize my productivity while minimizing my time away from home. Since I hated flying, I did my best to choose nonstop, direct flights that had me arrive and leave at the most reasonable times. On paper,…

Sometimes when I listen to a podcast, read a book, or checkout a new TV series, I am disappointed. The podcast guest might be a shyster pitching his book/courses, the book might be repetitive and banal, the news, the TV series that my feed “recommended for me” has a plot-line that is trite and formulaic….

The much-hyped summer blockbuster movies, Barbie and Oppenheimer, opened in July to rave reviews and sold-out theaters around the US. It seems like “everyone” is talking about these movies. The double-header has created a kind of real-life viral moment that people are loving. Families are going to the theater together. Tickets are sold out. People…