children - Life on the Road Less Traveled

August 7, 2008

When a Pet Dies: Letter from Heaven

My mother-in-law passed this on to me today. I warn you … it’s a tear-jerker. So go grab a tissue and a cup of tea, and settle in. This information might come in handy one day! (If anyone can help me with the original source, I’d be happy to post it.) Our 14 year old dog, Abbey, died last month.The day after she died, my 4 year old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey. She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her. I told her that […]

April 23, 2008

Save Our Children!

A wise man once said, “The greatness of any civilization is measured by the treatment of its weakest members.” America has always been a great nation. We enjoy unrivaled personal and civil liberties. And yet, we are now a nation in undeniable decline. How did we get here? To put it simply, we have forgotten ourselves, where we came from and where we’re going. * We have abandoned spiritual principles that brought us greatness, turning “freedom of religion” into “freedom from religion,” poisoning decency and sacrificing the common good in the name of “tolerance” and “individualism.” * We have robbed our children of their right […]

April 2, 2008

Addiction in Children: A review of “Beautiful Boy” by David Sheff

Standing in line at StarBucks for my weekly vanilla steamer, I was preparing to fortify myself for the “parent guidance” meeting when I spotted beside the cash register a shelf display of David Sheff’s Beautiful Boy. Something made me pick up a copy. Like many adoptive parents, I frequently think about the whole “nurture vs. nature” conundrum. When all is said and done, how much will we be able to influence our children and the choices they make … and how much is genetically predetermined? Will they be forced to pay with their own lives the tab for the choices their first parents made? According […]