I just recently turned 58. By virtue of my birth year--1966--I wound up as an early member of Generation X. I'm the parent to both a Millennial and Gen Z child: two sons who are 32 and 17 years old, respectively. I also own a dog, but since he was a rescue his age was listed in his registration papers as "6...or possibly 7...maybe???" To be honest, I have absolutely no idea what the kids (and dogs) of today's generation are calling themselves these days. I just know that my pet has more followers than me on Instagram.

I've been a resident of the Pacific Northwest for the past seventeen years, but I still identify as an East Coast transplant. I grew up in a small town in north-central Pennsylvania in the 70's and early 80's, then lived in Philadelphia as a young adult during the throughout the 90's and early 2000's.

I became an attorney, a husband, a parent, and a widower before I turned 30. I then lost both parents to serious illnesses a few short years apart. I turned to humor as a refuge rather than fully address my grief during those years, first studying improv with The Second City at their New York training center, then starting a blog sharing humorous memoirs about my childhood years and life as a single parent. Gradually I became inspired to write about my wife's passing, then in turn about the loss of my mother and father. Along the way, I came to discover writing to be a truly fulfilling way to both express humor and experience catharsis.

I'm excited to have recently found Medium and have already enjoyed several wonderful pieces by some very gifted writers. My hope is that I can contribute in some small way by bringing laughter and maybe the occasional tear to others here as well.