The need for gray sheep.

The tribe provides us with a true sense of security. These are the people, this is the social stratum, that will shield us and understand us above all else. Whether it's in our personal lives or in our working lives, our tribes fortify us.

What happens when we break with tribal doctrine? Does the tribe itself disintegrate? Are we excommunicated? Do the threats of the world outside become more pressing?

I belong to few tribes. Ethnically speaking, I'm an American mess. Professionally, I've often found myself on the fringes of management circles -- welcome at the conference room table, but not invited to the golf course. In my family, not quite the black sheep, but definitely a dark gray. I think it keeps the tribes honest.

A life after the war.

This is my grandfather. He's wearing his Coast Guard uniform before deployment in World War II. He can't be older than 19, but he had already lived more than I have in my 28 years. Grandpa Joe would be married soon, if he wasn't already here. His first child would be born while he was at war. His shipmates would get him drunk on Puerto Rican rum. After the Japanese surrendered, he had the chance to go to Antarctica with Rear Admiral Richard Byrd as part of Operation Highjump. Instead, he went home to his family.

He returned from the war and had four more children with my grandmother. He was a postman. Then a teacher. Then a guidance counselor. And somehow, in a tiny cape cod brimming with children, wrote two books on a pad and clipboard while sitting in a bathtub. 

I look at this photo often. It reminds me of how much I love and admire the man. It reminds me to live, work and write by his example.

I've written stories inspired by my grandfather here and here.