Author Archives: drsensintaffar

I graduated from medical school in May of 1993 and moved my family from Missouri to the Florida Panhandle to begin my family medicine residency. We were excited about the move and the new adventure—but no one was more excited than our five-year-old daughter, Hannah. “Are we in Florida yet?” a small voice squeaked fromContinue reading “The Miracle of Florida Snowflakes on Christmas Day”

At family gatherings when I was growing up, my grandfather would whistle while he fried his special chicken. The chicken was superb—crisp and savory and somehow better than it had any right to be. I’m convinced the whistling wasn’t just background noise. It was part of the recipe. Maybe the most important part. Granddaddy said heContinue reading “A Fried Chicken Family Tradition”

Diana and I were walking into the Home Depot. A middle-aged woman in a Grand Jeep Cherokee zipped right past us, parked in a handicapped parking space and jogged into the garden section of the store. I was indignant. “Just look at that, Diana! Can you believe it! “Now, now Lowell, just let it go.Continue reading “Confrontation at The Home Depot”

January 1992. I was a 3rd-year medical student at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Wife, four kids, one on the way. Lean times? Yes, absolutely.  But also great opportunities for God’s provision. I was driving down Stadium Blvd at dusk one Friday after a long day at the hospital. The tiny Datsun sedan in front ofContinue reading “Dr. Roadkill”

It was a sunny, spring day in 1983. I was  a sophomore at the University of Missouri-Rolla. Walking along the Quadrangle, I happened upon a lanky black man seated on a bench. He was dressed in holey, high-water pants, an off-color, formerly white T-shirt, ratty army fatigues jacket, and well-worn tennis shoes, a few sizesContinue reading “A Pork Chop Rebuke”

It was midday in late June in rural Nicaragua and it was brutally hot. Diana and I were there on a medical mission trip. There were no sidewalks in the tiny Nicaraguan village, just a dusty road through the middle of town. I observed the villagers around us. They would take a serpentine route downContinue reading “Shadows and Shade”

I don’t drink alcohol. I’ve tried beer, wine.  Just never developed a taste for it.  I really wish I could enjoy a glass of wine but I just don’t like the taste. Chocolate milk and sweet ice tea are different matters altogether. “Taste development” for those yummy beverages were immediate. But in spite of myContinue reading “An Italian Pineapple Surprise (subtitle: Getting Drunk, Baptist-style)”

Zoe sat at the table with her plate in front of her. Arms crossed, she stared down at the plate with disgust at the green thing tucked in between the chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese.  The single sprig of broccoli was a foreign color. The green clashed with yellows and browns of the otherContinue reading “A Broccoli Showdown”

Let me to introduce you to this little guy, a 6-inch bear figurine. He’s been a companion of ours for nearly 34 years. The stories he could tell . . . On Valentine’s Day, 1985, a skinny 22-year-old college senior plucked the bear off a Hallmark store shelf for $1.99 and bought a single rose.Continue reading “The Story of the Little Acrylic Bear”

In the spring of 1910, former President Theodore Roosevelt was on a whirlwind speaking tour through Europe culminating in Oslo, Norway where he would receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts at brokering the Treaty of Portsmouth that ended the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. In April, he gave a very long speech, Citizenship inContinue reading “A Lesson from Teddy and Peter”