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Okay, babies don't always know what's good for them. That may be why some parents invented the airplane idea. A baby should eat the food that he has in his bowl, but he doesn't want to. So, you put the food on the spoon, and you make it like an airplane. "See the airplane (airplane sound)! Now open your mouth!" It’s always hard when the mouth opened, the plane approached, and suddenly the mouth closed, leaving the airplane's cargo all over the baby's face. "Hey baby! I have what you need. But you won't open your mouth."

July 4, 2023

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It was a cold November night. The weather wasn't the greatest in Colorado. But Dick Ebersol's pilot felt they were good to take off. As head of NBC Sports at the time, Dick Ebersol was known as one of the most powerful men in the sporting world. But that night, he was just a dad who lost his son. The plane crashed on takeoff. Dick's older son literally pulled him from the wreckage. But his 14-year-old son Teddy didn't make it out. A few days later, Dick's wife and Teddy's mom, retired actress Susan St. James, were interviewed on NBC's "Today" show. She spoke with amazing poise. At one point, she talked about trying to help the surviving kids know how to handle some of the feelings that might come up - including what she referred to as "resentment." Out of her pain, she made a statement filled with so much insight I hope I'll never forget it. She said, "I've always told my kids, having resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die."

June 29, 2023

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I used to think I didn't dream much. But I guess that's scientifically inaccurate. I guess we all dream a lot, but some of us like me don't remember them. Now, my wife? Oh, she dreamed in these Technicolor epics! I mean, I'm lucky if I remember a black and white short subject. Once in a while, though, I do remember a bad dream I've had. Not usually about monsters or murderers. I think you're going to laugh when I tell you what a lot of my nightmares are about. Not being ready. Yeah, you know, stepping up to a microphone totally unprepared; having a huge audience waiting for me to speak in an auditorium. I'm being introduced. I have nothing to say. Some women have told me they've had nightmares about not being ready for a date. Others have told me about their nightmare about not being ready for a meeting, or a board of directors where they have to give an important report.

June 27, 2023

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It's a big deal when a child can finally start buying gifts with his or her own money. I remember one of the first gifts I was able to buy for my mom. It was a corsage for Mother's Day. I was doing this all on my own. I was so proud. I saved up my allowances, and I rode my bike about six blocks to the florist. I picked out these two carnations. I still remember - one was pink, one was white. Then I got on my bike and I held the white box on my handlebars. I was so proud of this gift, and then I hit a bump. In one very depressing moment, that white box went flying off the handlebars in front of my bike and I ran over it. So there I was, this forlorn little guy, bike on the ground, looking very sadly at my gift with a tire mark right down the middle. Sniff...

June 19, 2023

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It was several years ago, and this particular Super Bowl Sunday there was kind of a dark cloud over it because there had come some news that had rocked Hollywood. It rocked Broadway, and then countless everyday folks who could not forget the compelling characters that this actor had created on the screen. Academy Award-winning actor, Philip Seymour Hoffman had been found dead in his apartment of a drug overdose at the age of 46.

June 15, 2023

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Remember some years ago when the Olympics were in Russia? I liked that news a whole lot better than more recent news about Russia. Yeah, they had fireworks that ended the Russian Olympics. And now the fireworks are in Ukraine. And suddenly part of Ukraine was part of Russia. Hello? Russia flexing its expansionist muscles on the world's stage, I'm hearing those two words again that I haven't heard for a long time - Cold War.

June 13, 2023

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Well, in the summer it's nice to think about winter Olympics. Well, you know what? I'm not like most people who watch the Olympics. You know, like the winter Olympics, the women's Olympic figure skating? Well, a lot of people just enjoy the grace of the "twizzles" and the "triple lutzes" (whatever those are). Not me. No, I love the stories. I'm a story guy. So I'm sitting there mulling the stories of those skaters. And thinking, "We've got something to learn from her."

June 9, 2023

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Okay, I guess I'm a typical American, because I like football, baseball, and basketball. Now, luge, bobsled, slopestyle, halfpipe - not as much. But, like millions of others, there's something about the winter Olympics that drew me in to watch sports that I know little about. It's because of the drama; the world's best on the world stage, with much of their life invested in what will be only minutes of their life, giving it all for the glory of winning or the agony of losing.

June 5, 2023

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All of a sudden The Son of God was in theaters all over the place. Actually, a movie by that name - Son of God. And based on its opening weekend, it was drawing a crowd. Of course that was not the first time something like that had happened. "The Passion of the Christ" turned out to be a blockbuster, too. Who would have guessed that?

June 1, 2023

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It was one of those years when my New York Giants decided they didn't want to show up for the playoffs that year. Oh, the Super Bowl was always in their stadium, but sadly no blue and white on the field. The odds makers had been predicting that Denver was going to win by one point. They lost 43-8.