THE LOST COLUMN
Slice Of Life Stories On Family, Sports, Losing & Life
I’ve been a writer since ‘94 but have experienced losing for much longer.
It’s a chronic condition: At 13, Donny Wilmot beat me 7-6 in tennis and told me, “You played a career match Cote, and you still lost.” In high school, I started at shooting guard as a Sophomore, a year in which our hoops team put up 20 in the loss column, out of 20 games. At 26, I got so lost driving home from New York City on my third date with Bridget we ended up on Pennsylvania’s I-80. That’s really hard to do. I lost my hair by 29, my ability to make a 3-foot putt by 30 and the grass in my front yard by June, every year. At 33, I left my wallet on the top of the Subaru while filling up the tank twice in an eight-day span; both times the wallet fell off as I spun away. Today, I deal with a different kind of losing – as a coach of a middle school girls basketball team of kids who’ve never really played before and don’t have a safe place at home to practice; as a father of three who give their best in sports and on stage, but don’t always win, and as a man on the cusp of 50 who on any given day loses his patience, keys, favorite shirt and hearing….through it all, I try to learn a little something from losing….and be better for it the next time.
This is my book on losing—how to do it gracefully and with any luck stop it.
Raking Leaves
Making decisions to guide our behavior can be complicated and seems to be getting moreso, sometimes for everyday decisions, seasonal things - like raking leaves - or bigger decisions about health and family.
Pre Approval
The difficulties for husbands getting approval from their wives is a longstanding challenge and one that is unlikely to change. But the good news is those in healthcare are likely to find it easier to get approval for their day to day work.
Book Report
Kids have it so difficult …. a story about life with homework, deadlines and spelling errors
All In The Family
Maybe you can solve one person’s health conditions and, in turn, change the health of the entire family….
Falling Down
Fall is the best season but for some it’s a chronic condition - here’s how to possibly fix it.
Flying For Hope
Medical travel is gaining traction. It’s a good trend, for what are typically very serious situations. How Clooney’s words from Up In The Air were precursor.
The Crossing Guard
Family man who is a crossing guard at an inner city school enters hospice. A look back at his life and all he gave.
Hepburn Was Right
Maybe Katherine Hepburn was right….in this piece, we dissect how being talented may not be all it’s cracked up to be, unless….
Face of Aging
Aging is tough - but we ought to do better to appreciate and embrace those who get older. Taking the time to hear their stories, ask them questions, give them a break, and seconds on the coffee ice cream…
The Haircut
Barbers and hairdressers have been giving mental health advice for generations, letting their customers share the good and bad of life for those 30 minutes in the chair. Now, a company is promoting the fact its stylists are trained….
The Pizza Cutter
Hear how a doctor and I had to make a game-time decision about my son’s tongue tied situation….here how it turned out and what it can teach us about our behavior during crisis.
Leave The Line
Look up and you may just see something amazing - a man leaves the front of the line to do this, loses his spot, but wins in the end.
Remember My Name
Similar to how we need to remember the sacrifice for those who fought for freedom in wars, we ought to also remember those who have been pioneers sacrificing for many of the opportunities and benefits we have today in healthcare…
Healthy Assassins
Here’s one of the healthiest games our kids can play, but not everyone thinks so…
Die Laughing
Attitudes about death are changing. What can we do and how can we help continue to shape them in positive ways?