Sometimes one gets bogged down in routine. We get up (tired); go about doing the same daily tasks; eat our meals at the same time, often the same menu week after week; do the regular routine chores, following the same pattern or schedule; and then go to bed (tired), sleep, and then get up to start it all over again the next morning. But occasionally a few unexpected, non-routine events come along, disrupting that hum-drum routine and bringing a bright spot to the otherwise gr

This past weekend, I attended what has become an annual event but that I have been able to attend only a couple of times–the reunion of the Peterson family, descendants of Tobias Peterson. No matter how often I’m able to attend these reunions, however, I always meet someone I’ve never known, or someone I’ve only heard of from other family members. Invariably, when I meet them, they always mistake me for my older brother Dale (one of the fortunate–or unfortunate–results of bei