Good Friday and Easter are special days for Carolyn and I. We were told that our daughter was not viable on Good Friday a few years ago. I remember going to Good Friday service that night and weeping with our church family and having them weep with and pray for us. Ironically, I’ve never had […]
It is better to go to the house of mourningthan to go to the house of feasting,for this is the end of all mankind,and the living will lay it to heart.Sorrow is better than laughter,for by sadness of face the heart is made glad. Ecclesiastes 7:2-3 2020 by all statistical measures has been the best […]
Happy 7th Anniversary Carolyn! There’s a term out there called the 7 year itch which basically says that your 7th year of marriage is the hardest and that most marriages on average survive around 7 years. I’m not quite sure if celebrating our 7th anniversary means we just finished 7 years (yay!) or if we’re […]
I’m sure it has been said many times this year already but it feels like we’re in a movie. A movie where a lot of things have gone wrong. Coronavirus has accelerated and exposed the loneliness, darkness, inequality, and frustration in our hearts and our world. It is magnified more today as I slow down […]
What better time is there to write than during a quarantine! If death isn’t on your mind after the start of 2020, you may never think about one of the most important events that you will ever go through. As depressing as a worldwide pandemic is, I’d like to look at the bright side: some […]
I feel responsible this year for reflecting not just on 2019 but the entire decade (so does everyone that is reflecting?). The last decade makes up all of my working life. I vividly remember graduating in 2009 to a pretty depressing scene. I’d flown more than 20,000 miles looking for a job after Lehman Brothers […]
Happy birthday Talitha Cumi Chen! You are the perfect daughter for me. You came out of the womb with an attitude with your eyebrow dimple, your hair shoots straight into the sky, you’re slower than the rest of the kiddos just like me, you’re chill with most things but when you want something you’re locked […]
Carolyn and I have known each other now for around 16 years, been dating for 10 years, and will be married for 6 years today (July 13th). Time can be a depressing statistic in our culture. I hear many that cite that a majority of startups will not make it to year 2. Or that […]
I’ve spent more time in the hospital the last 6 months with my daughter Talitha than I have combined my entire life. With Talitha’s 4th surgery, I realized that she was more resilient than Carolyn and I. As one pediatric oncologist I know said, typically kids with cancer are comforting their parents at the hospital, […]
Before having my daughter Talitha, my biggest fear was having a child with special needs. When Carolyn and I took foster certification classes and the leader of the class asked if anyone was interested in fostering special needs children, I tried not to make eye contact. I still remember the moment when our ultrasound tech […]