People who knew me “back in the old days” might be surprised out how open I am in discussing my personal life and thoughts in my posts. I used to be a very private person who kept my thoughts to myself and only the closest people in my life (my wife and occasionally friends). I…
Author: Steve Ainslie
Parental Support
A guy in his mid 30s bought the house down the street from me about a month ago. My neighbor said he hasn’t moved in yet because he’s doing some upgrades to his place first. My neighbor told me she met his mother, who helped her son find and buy the house. I’ve seen this…
Golden Silence
I have a friend who like to talk – a lot. Whenever he’s bored, lonely, anxious or afraid, he sends texts or calls. If I’m unavailable, he has an entire list of friends he’ll blast until someone responds. He’s an over-communicator who has a need to discuss and hash out what’s in his head. That’s…
Love Is Action
When I was a teenager, the word “love” seemed so powerful and important. I fell head over heels for my first girlfriend, Pam. I absolutely loved her. But I never said it to her during the 2 months that we were together. Why? Because I didn’t know any better, I suppose. I loved her. I…
Hoarders
A friend was talking to me about his wife and said half-jokingly, “Well, you know she’s a hoarder. My house is so full of stuff, I need to move out just to get some room to walk around”. Ugh. I know all about hoarding. My mother is a hoarder. Many years ago, I cleaned out…
Fractured Fairy Tales
When I was a small child, I loved fairy tales. My Aunt Essie would read to me Jack And the Beanstalk, The Three Billy Goats Gruff, Pinocchio, The Three Little Pigs, The Boy Who Cried Wolf and The Little Engine That Could. Then when I could, I buried myself into John Henry, Jonny Appleseed, Paul…
In Character
Good or bad, people tend to act the way they acted in the past. When I expect someone to act differently, I am usually disappointed In the past year, I’ve witnessed this occur with family members, friends, business leaders and politicians. Worst of all, I’ve witnessed it in me. In the last 3 years, I…
Dream Girl
I remember many of my dreams but I don’t write about them or discuss them with my friends much because I think that only I would find them interesting. Today, dear reader, I’m making an exception. In recents weeks, my dreams have fallen into two distinct categories: My wife is alive and we are together…
A Permanent Sadness
Ever since my wife was diagnosed with lung cancer back in 2018, I’ve carried a permanent sadness deep inside of me. In the beginning, when we were fighting the cancer, I buried the sadness with action. I researched medications, scoured lung cancer forums for glimmers of hope and studied PubMed articles for facts about treatments,…
School Shootings and Soft Targets
I have been thinking about school shootings and soft targets after the recent Buffalo supermarket shooting and the Uvalde School shooting. These brought back memories of the Stoneman Douglass School shooting, the Sandy Hook shooting and even the Columbine shooting. I hear politicians saying we need to have stricter gun control laws. They propose bans…