The Dad Story Project

Send a text A young man asks his dad, "Can you help me lift something out in the barn..." a question that turns into an epic and somewhat dangerous adventure; one in an endless string of adventures that create a lifelong bond. A bond that has now been transferred to the next generation.

Send a text A story of daring reptilian adventure as our family's collective obsession with snakes, turtles, and their related ilk, lead to late nights on the lake, squealing tires, crates reinforced with steel, chewed golf clubs, and nearly-amputated toes. It's all just good family fun and it builds a kind of redneck character that will last a lifetime...although we're not quite su...

Send a text On two otherwise ordinary rainy days nearly five decades apart, a father and son travel up a cold northern lake in an old boat. On the first trip, the man is strong and determined while his boy is small and chilled and a bit scared. On the second trip, the roles are reversed. Everything about the two days is the same, except for the inevitable passing of time.  This is a poignant and q...

Send a text This is a cautionary tale about two young boys who decide to take the technology of the day and modify it in order to do something utterly stupid. In fact, the activities in this story were so ill-conceived and idiotic that no disclaimer is warranted. Therefore, don't try this at home. Yet, as it turns out even mistakes can serve as life lessons that often prove invaluable as we n...

Send a text An innocent foray into raising chickens leads our family down a sinister path as our rooster slowly goes insane. Danger lurks around every corner until we no longer bear it and drastic measures must be taken. And while things end with a bang (several, bangs, actually), the terrible conclusion isn't what you might expect. The takeaway? If you insist on having a rooster, be prepared...

Send a text Many years ago on a beautiful spring day, I stopped on my way home from work to take a walk and shrug off the worries of the moment. I found myself in the company of a man I never met, and with no words spoken between us, he forever changed the way I would look at my own life.

Send a text A middle-aged man gets a birthday phone call from his father, and the two of them are transported back in time to relive a precious family tradition. Music: https://www.purple-planet.com

Send a text To embrace another person is one of the things that defines our humanity and connects us to each other, both literally and emotionally. And a world full of full-contact hugs would be a wonderful place (as long as respect and social context boundaries were honored, of course). In this very short episode, I describe our family heritage of serial hugging that we are passing down from gene...

Send a text A Christmas parable of sorts, this is the true story of a few frustrating minutes on a cold December day in Maine as a man stares out the window of an old farmhouse and worries about the apparent contradictions of the season. But as he frets over the world's fixation with material gain, a pickup truck pulls into the driveway and he realizes once more what is really valuable in his...

Send a text At the edge of a river deep in the forest,  a father and son find the past and the present fused together for a few precious moments. A poignant story of a canoe trip, lost trains, blackberry brambles, a distant memory, and the ever-onward march of time. 

Send a text This is the tender story of a little girl and her grandfather and how a few minutes on a summer day changed their lives forever. It's a reminder for us all to be on the alert for those simple everyday moments when a bit of encouragement and cheer can be the most precious gift in the world. Background Music: https://www.purple-planet.com

Send a text A chance encounter with a low-hanging ladder during a search for a dry-erase board help a father remember how wonderful it is to have a son. 

Send a text Time is a strange thing. We experience it in a strictly linear fashion, one moment following the next into the future. But with the wonder of memory, we can make time stand still, or even rewind a segment of the distant past. And, looking back in our minds and hearts, we can often see the significance of a particular event that went unnoticed as it was happening. In this story, a bit o...

Send a text A middle-aged man with a thin (okay, nonexistent) dating track record finally screws up the courage to ask a beautiful young girl out on a date, and it goes perfectly.

Send a text Ordinary days. We all have them. In fact, most of our days would be classified this way. Yet this story of a father and son and a day spent together doing a simple chore, shows that if we look hard enough, and if we dads try hard enough, we can make any day special. We just need to be on the lookout for those tiny fleeting moments where we can make a difference. 

Send a text Hello everyone! I'm turning 11 years worth of heartwarming family newspaper columns into a new podcast, and I need your help. The Dad Story Project (TDSP) podcast is available now on Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , Spotify , and Stitcher , and the official grand opening launch is August 15th. Please help me encourag dads everywhere to fall in love with the best job they will ev...

Send a text How a pair of boots, a lawnmower, and a tired dad turned a little girl's dream into a reality.

Send a text The short story of how these stories came to be.

Send a text It is often assumed that being a good dad means doing big, bold, ambitious things for your children, giving them expensive gifts or taking them on grand vacations, but the reality is that sometimes the best parenting moments occur when you just show up. 

Send a text Reaching under the eves in the dark attic of his family home, a man was instantly transported back to a magical few moments with his grandmother; those few moments changed his life forever. 

Send a text A freak childhood accident leads to the heartwarming memory of something never seen.