Hard to believe it’s 2026. As like 2024, in 2025 I kept a Jar of Positivity, writing down good things that have happened in my life. It helps identify what’s important in the day to day, and with focus on enjoying those things important to you. The list follows. As like last year’s column, it is interesting to note that almost all these involve relationships, experiences and being with friends. In no particular order:
1.Visiting two friends in Peshtigo, WI, playing trivia night and going to the Wisconsin Girls High School Basketball semi-finals in Green Bay.
2.Long-term friend came up to visit from Chicago after joining our senior baseball team. Hanging out with him for the night and going to indoor practice to introduce him to his new teammates.
3.Our two nephews’ weddings. Went to NASA, got some great barbecue, wild man dancing, saw a childhood friend for drinks, drank some great coffee, caught up with some cousins and friends from Dallas. Explored downtown Chicago, hung out behind the band watching the drummer and lead singer. Super.
4.Golf with my younger brother on a nearly empty course near Harvard, IL, temps around 55 degrees, cloudy. We scrambled to one-over par with two mulligans. I hit the crap out of the ball.
5.Trip to Maine and seeing my wife’s side of the family, along with two of our kids. Two rounds of golf at a scenic seaside course, shooting 7-under in a 4-person scramble, ferrying to an island for an e-bike tour; great dinners, sights, companionship and smells of the ocean.
6.Annual Wisconsin Security Association golf outing.
7.Annual reunion of our Kankakee, IL Traitor softball team at Oak Springs Golf Course.
8.Shooting 80 on the golf course with two buddies. A thunderstorm forced us off the course while I was playing great. Two of us waited it out, went back to play the last five holes and I missed a 17-footer for a 79 on the last hole.
9.Went from a 46 on the front nine to a 39 on the back nine at the Mayville Golf Course and had back-to-back birdies.
10.Ran the 800, 400 and 200 for the sixth year in the Wisconsin Masters Games, bettering my time in each event from the previous year. Training helps.
11.Boat trip down the Chicago River for our younger daughter’s birthday.
12.U.S. Women’s Open with my two daughters, and seeing the Comedian Nikki Glaser along with a good dinner out for a father-daughters weekend.
13.Summerfest with my younger brother and his wife. One of Milwaukee’s fun events on the lakefront. Riding the gondola, food, beer, bands.
14.Serving as a clinician in Pennsylvania for basketball officials seeking to move up to the collegiate level.
15.Annual golf, eating, drinking, storytelling, campfire reunion with my two brothers and our three sons.
16.Reunion in Chicago with college friends from our freshman-sophomore year, along with some golf. Cruised out to Lake Michigan.
17.Continuing quest to break 80 on the golf course, shot 82 at Mayville again, with three tap-in birdies. No wind, no clouds, 50 degrees out. Played in two hours.
18.Going to the NCAA golf tournament with two friends in Urbana, IL.
19.Multiple coffee chats with a good friend. It’s like therapy.
20.Morning catch-ups with three guys at the fitness facility where I work out. More therapy. Great conversations.
21.A friend of mine from Chicago who I interviewed years ago for a story who has since written a book, and said my writing inspired him. Wow. Never expected that one.
22.Officiating South Milwaukee High School on the road, and they get blown out in the basketball game, and the coach chases myself and my two partners out of the gym to shake our hands and tell us what a great job we did.
23.Younger bro and wife driving up from Illinois for my birthday.
24.Officiating the annual Badger basketball games, where 5th-8th grade teams from all over the state bring teams down to the Milwaukee metro area to compete for the state championship.
25.Hanging out with a long-term officiating buddy at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee basketball game.
26.Reunion with three college buddies from the University of Illinois, doing some bowling, having them watch me referee, and the four of us continuing our jinx of making sure Illinois loses the football game against Wisconsin that Saturday.
If you don’t keep a Jar of Positivity, I suggest you start in 2026. Write things down. Put them in a jar. Reread them at the end of the year. Your life will be enhanced.
1.Visiting two friends in Peshtigo, WI, playing trivia night and going to the Wisconsin Girls High School Basketball semi-finals in Green Bay.
2.Long-term friend came up to visit from Chicago after joining our senior baseball team. Hanging out with him for the night and going to indoor practice to introduce him to his new teammates.
3.Our two nephews’ weddings. Went to NASA, got some great barbecue, wild man dancing, saw a childhood friend for drinks, drank some great coffee, caught up with some cousins and friends from Dallas. Explored downtown Chicago, hung out behind the band watching the drummer and lead singer. Super.
4.Golf with my younger brother on a nearly empty course near Harvard, IL, temps around 55 degrees, cloudy. We scrambled to one-over par with two mulligans. I hit the crap out of the ball.
5.Trip to Maine and seeing my wife’s side of the family, along with two of our kids. Two rounds of golf at a scenic seaside course, shooting 7-under in a 4-person scramble, ferrying to an island for an e-bike tour; great dinners, sights, companionship and smells of the ocean.
6.Annual Wisconsin Security Association golf outing.
7.Annual reunion of our Kankakee, IL Traitor softball team at Oak Springs Golf Course.
8.Shooting 80 on the golf course with two buddies. A thunderstorm forced us off the course while I was playing great. Two of us waited it out, went back to play the last five holes and I missed a 17-footer for a 79 on the last hole.
9.Went from a 46 on the front nine to a 39 on the back nine at the Mayville Golf Course and had back-to-back birdies.
10.Ran the 800, 400 and 200 for the sixth year in the Wisconsin Masters Games, bettering my time in each event from the previous year. Training helps.
11.Boat trip down the Chicago River for our younger daughter’s birthday.
12.U.S. Women’s Open with my two daughters, and seeing the Comedian Nikki Glaser along with a good dinner out for a father-daughters weekend.
13.Summerfest with my younger brother and his wife. One of Milwaukee’s fun events on the lakefront. Riding the gondola, food, beer, bands.
14.Serving as a clinician in Pennsylvania for basketball officials seeking to move up to the collegiate level.
15.Annual golf, eating, drinking, storytelling, campfire reunion with my two brothers and our three sons.
16.Reunion in Chicago with college friends from our freshman-sophomore year, along with some golf. Cruised out to Lake Michigan.
17.Continuing quest to break 80 on the golf course, shot 82 at Mayville again, with three tap-in birdies. No wind, no clouds, 50 degrees out. Played in two hours.
18.Going to the NCAA golf tournament with two friends in Urbana, IL.
19.Multiple coffee chats with a good friend. It’s like therapy.
20.Morning catch-ups with three guys at the fitness facility where I work out. More therapy. Great conversations.
21.A friend of mine from Chicago who I interviewed years ago for a story who has since written a book, and said my writing inspired him. Wow. Never expected that one.
22.Officiating South Milwaukee High School on the road, and they get blown out in the basketball game, and the coach chases myself and my two partners out of the gym to shake our hands and tell us what a great job we did.
23.Younger bro and wife driving up from Illinois for my birthday.
24.Officiating the annual Badger basketball games, where 5th-8th grade teams from all over the state bring teams down to the Milwaukee metro area to compete for the state championship.
25.Hanging out with a long-term officiating buddy at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee basketball game.
26.Reunion with three college buddies from the University of Illinois, doing some bowling, having them watch me referee, and the four of us continuing our jinx of making sure Illinois loses the football game against Wisconsin that Saturday.
If you don’t keep a Jar of Positivity, I suggest you start in 2026. Write things down. Put them in a jar. Reread them at the end of the year. Your life will be enhanced.
