One year and 5,000 miles. Given everything that has transpired, it feels longer and further. In fact, the past few years seem more like a decade. 2019 included two CrossFit Opens, Caylee’s college graduation, a trip to Paris, a Lyme disease infection and 60th birthdays for Cherry and myself. I…

When we think about someone’s life, it’s typical to list their accomplishments along the way. When I think about Cherry’s lifetime, I start by considering the backdrop to her experience. For example, her parents began building their family in the midst of World War II during the Japanese occupation of…

Evidently, it’s still winter. The weather has been cooler with a steady diet of rain showers. The hillsides and fields that were parched and burned yellow from the constant summer sun are now a healthy green. Worries about droughts and water conservation have been replaced by talk of the wettest…

A year ago, I was living in New England and would take daily hikes through the woods near my home. Today, I live on an island in the Pacific Ocean and walk to the beach every day. A year ago, I was a business owner and now I volunteer my…

In 2011, I was coaching youth soccer. Having started coaching in 1992, this would be my last season. This girl’s team, which included my daughter, was made up of middle schoolers. In a few months, they would be moving onto high school and aging out of the town’s travel soccer…

A half-year has now passed since we established our new home near the south shore of Maui. We’re currently experiencing our first ‘winter’ as the summertime temps of the low 90s have dipped into the high 70s. The lowlands and the mountainsides have turned a deep green from occasional rain…

I grew up as a fan of Baltimore sports teams. In the 1962, during a family day at the beach, my grandfather plopped an Orioles hat on my head and my fandom began. I went to my first Orioles game in 1966 when they played the now-defunct Washington Senators. The…

Our adventure has shifted from adapting to the island to experiencing day-to-day life on Maui. In just the past couple weeks, a vacationing snorkeler went missing after a shark encounter, a volcano erupted nearby and we had our first Hawaiian Thanksgiving. In the case of the missing…

Written: 2015 Carly Spellman is a unique athlete and teammate. Based on my 25 years of coaching experience, I say this with every confidence. This isn’t because Carly is 6’2” and genetically blessed with muscles on top of muscles. She isn’t. Carly has always been a bit smaller than her…