Bullying is such a serious factor in today's schools. If it's not your clothes, your hair, your sexual orientation, or your shoes… then it's your mental capacity. I am in constant battle with my children's school on this bullying thing. I understand in most cases kids will be kids, but this is getting pure ridiculous!! These offenders should be taught a serious lesson. Instead the kids that are doing everything in their will power to defend themselves get into trouble.

I got bullied

Some years ago, in the fall of 2006 to be exact, I read a story that absolutely grabbed me. I can’t describe the feeling of being ‘grabbed’ by something you read about, but I can tell you that my reaction was immediate and of heartfelt urgency. A young girl, 12 at the time, was going through chemo treatment for leukemia at Children’s Hospital in the lower 48, a great distance from her home, familiar surroundings and the friends she knew. Thousands of lonely and scary miles from her life in

When the CNN Breaking News notification popped up on my phone, I barely glanced at it. Another shooting? Terrible, but sadly, becoming the norm. I closed my eyes, thanked the gods that my daughter was 15-months-old and asleep in her crib, and continued my morning routine.

After lunch, I turned on the national news, and the full force of the tragedy hit me. Those parents waiting for agonizing hours to find out if their world was going to be turned upside down. The children being herd

Today I joined Stage of Life, another joy to add to my life. Each day in my "Second Chapter" I try to add something new to my life so I may continue my journey of writing and sharing my story while meeting other like-minded people. Today is the day of learning about Stage of Life, a day where I find a big smile appear on my face at the sheer wonder of knowing there are others like me. It's certainly a marvelous thing to be able to relish being over 50, and to share that happiness with others.

Hello All,

Stage of Life is proud to announce its latest endeavor - the development of the first mobile storytelling game! For the last three months, we have been putting our creative efforts into drafting Writing Race, a multiplayer story writing game for Apple iPhone where friends will collaboratively (or competitively) write a story together using their mobile phone.

Our idea to expand Stage of Life’s literacy initiative to the mobile realm began as some scribbling on

This essay was originally written for my personal blog, but I figured more people would see it on StageofLife.com so I'm presenting it here...

It's Sunday night, and I'm sitting here at my kitchen table reflecting back on the events of this last week. For all the regular ups and downs that occurred over the last seven days in our little family, the one thing that sticks with me, out of everything, was that I received (for the first time), a pure, unadulterated, in-your-face eye roll

I think it will be good to write something light today. How about some aspects from my teaching days? I will tell you some general experiences of my long teaching carrier.

I really miss my school days as a teacher. At school, in my class, it was my natural habitat. I felt really at home with my pupils and the more I got to know them, and the more they got to know me, our good relation made the hours we spent together not only stressless but also very enjoyable. Not that I never had

Citizen Soldier by 3 Doors down is a great song explaining the last nine years of my life. For the past nine years I have been a part of the Florida Army National Guard. I have deployed overseas with the National Guard on three separate occasions. I have also been activated for state emergencies such as hurricanes. This song had a direct impact on me because it talks about being a National Guard soldier and what we do.
When the song came out I was preparing for my second deploym

Should we be concerned about teens “experimenting” with drugs? Is this even the right term for it? It is just something that many young people do and then they’ll all leave it behind as they grow up? Is it worth the effort to try to guarantee that our teenagers will never drink alcohol or abuse an illicit or prescription drug?

These are excellent questions for any parent to ask themselves. After all, if drug “experimentation” doesn’t present any real danger, maybe it’s not that impor

I am enjoying a day off from work. I just finished an enjoyable six mile run and after submitting this blog, will try to read before my family starts returning home. Ever since my wife and I decided to adopt three foster children, I have had little time for my two favorite hobbies. Our daughters, ages ten and twelve, have been in our home for almost fifteen months and our fifteen year old son for almost six. I spent a little time this morning asking myself, “what if”. What if we decided n