Tag: <span>Family</span>

Dealing with monsters among us. Photo by Luis Quintero: https://www.pexels.com/photo/silhouette-of-a-person-1799904/
Dealing With Monsters Among Us

Estimated reading time: 19 minutes

Between my former Navy career and present consulting career I’ve met, worked with, even lived with, a lot of different people. New people constantly cycle into my world, then cycle back out due to forces and decisions not under my control.

On the positive, I’ve had the great pleasure of meeting people whom I never would have known through social activities. On the negative, I’ve been forced to deal with some truly horrible people.

More than horrible, I’ve been thrown into dealing with actual monsters living among us. People who from the outside seemed like normally decent human beings, but scratching their skin revealed a creature totally devoid of soul. One of these monsters was a seemingly decent family-man with a wife and three lovely daughters. Dealing with him threw me into one of the ugliest situations I’ve ever been involved in.

In the Navy Ron Charest

Reason For A Family Gathering
Reason For A Family Gathering

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

This past week Winnie and I made a trip to Rhode Island to visit family. It was notable for several reasons; it was the first overnight trip we’ve had since this Zombie Apocalypse started in March 2020. The occasion was the 75th birthday of one of my cousins still living in New England, and lots of other family came in to celebrate.

So we had several days of hanging around family and visiting in New England in November. It turned out to be a nice visit.

Family Stories

Happy Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving

Just a quick post to wish all my family, friends, and many readers a Happy Thanksgiving celebration. May you’all have the chance to enjoy a wonderful meal with family and friends. As part of your celebrations, you might also take a few moments to reflect upon the many blessings of the past year, and to give thanks.

Family Stories

World Travel
World Travel

Winnie left this afternoon for a rather short-notice trip back to China. She’ll be returning April Friday April 10, just shy of three weeks visiting half-way around the world from here.

Family Stories

New Year 2015
New Year 2015

For the first post of this brave new year of 2015 CE, I’d like to wish all my readers a year of good heath, happiness, and prosperity.

Family Stories

We had a very different Christmas celebration this year. In the past we’ve normally celebrated Christmas at home, with the exception of a few years in a row when we went up to Mom’s house in New York. Staying at home was the preferred option as the Charest family is currently spread out from Washington, California, Tennessee, Northern Virginia, and on out to Wales. However, this year the stars aligned and we all descended upon Tennessee for a very Charest family reunion Christmas celebration.

Family Stories

Happy Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving

It’s Thanksgiving day again; another year passed remembering the good and the bad. Thanksgiving continues to be my favorite holiday, and one thing I’m thankful for is that this holiday has remained relatively commercial-free. This is and should be the one day each each when families and friends come together to celebrate, reflect on the year passed, and give thanks for their many blessings. Then eat a lot of turkey-based foods.

Family Stories

Howard, Pam Charest visiting with Ron and Winnie Charest, August 3, 2014.

My brother Howard and his wife Pam dropped by for a visit this past weekend. It was a particularly special event as they live on the left coast, in the Great State of California, city of Los Angeles. As best as we can figure, it’s been five years since they were last here, although I’ve visited them several times when I was on trips to Los Angeles.

Family Stories

I am sad to post that another family idol passed last week. Our Aunt Therese (fondly known as “Aunt Terry” to those of us in the family who are French-language challenged) was found dead in her apartment last Tuesday morning, July 8.

Family Stories

Family Stories