Lonny Cain

1 week ago | shawlocal.com | Lonny Cain

I never cared for report cards. That might have something to do with the details they provided. You know, grades and those little notes from teachers. I saved most of them (of course). And recently, I had to pull them out to analyze them. This was inspired by a Smithsonian magazine article that told me I had something in common with Benjamin Franklin.

2 weeks ago | shawlocal.com | Lonny Cain

Let me tell you about this dream. I’m driving down a long stretch of highway, and I can see my future in the distance. I see myself slowly aging as I get closer. “Oh, it’s coming someday, that’s for sure,” I tell myself, pushing onward. Then BAM! Suddenly, older me is sitting next to me in the passenger seat. When did that happen? I wonder. Yeah. That’s how it works. Not a dream. At some point in time, I had to admit I was old. The world around me noticed before I did.

3 weeks ago | northernpublicradio.org | Lonny Cain

I could not stop thinking about the challenge I had just read on Facebook: "Tell me a sentence that changed your life for the better."A sentence that changed my life. I have so many. I actually collect them, print them out and display them. Words with meaning — to me. But none answer that question. Not as well as the simple sentence I heard so many years ago when I was in high school, a teenager doubting myself on so many levels. The words came from a young woman.

3 weeks ago | shawlocal.com | Lonny Cain

Follow me, please. We’re taking a little walk through my house. My home, like most homes, I believe, is full of displays. Photos, paintings, ornaments and plants. Stuff like that. It’s become a museum reflecting those who live here, including Tucker, our dog. People are not lining up for tours, though. And I confess that sometimes I wish they did. (Note to wife: Relax. I’m making a point here. There will be no public tours.)Our home is our sanctum. Our safe and private place, we hope.

1 month ago | shawlocal.com | Lonny Cain

“Dodge and weave! Dodge and weave!”That’s me shouting my life advice for the day. I usually say it with tongue in cheek. I am sort of joking, adding a bit of humor to a basic truth … that life is stressful. Stress spills out over a wide spectrum. Trying to open a jar of pickles is one thing. Mourning the loss of a loved one is much different. Whatever the stress, I am told it does damage. There are days I feel like I’m in the fast lane full of crazy drivers – and it’s full of potholes.