Author: Carter Gaddis
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Truth and optimism
The sense of dread is always there. It’s this feeling that a monster lurks outside the door, ready to smother our humanity at the appointed hour. It’s October 25, 2024. The innate optimism that underpins life in America endures, but it feels fragile. I sit in my home at this…
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Change is hard
We talk about reinvention. I once was this. Now, I’m this. And it’s so because I made it happen. I didn’t. Life rolls on with a will we can’t control. You think it was your choice to “invent” the person you are? That there was some grand plan? A blueprint…
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A Day at the Florida State Fair
The Florida State Fair, like all good fairs, is a festival of the senses. The sights and sounds thrill, but the smells … breathe deep and relish those smells. No matter the season, a fair is the provenance of olfactory gratification. Booths and stands draw you in with the aroma…
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The Sex Talk: It Starts with Self-Knowledge, Trust and Intimacy
“Are there any cute girls in your classes?” He flushes deep pink and scrunches up his nose and mouth at me. He is 11. Sixth grade began two days ago. “What?” I say. “I just asked if you’d seen any cute girls at school.” He’s been fiddling with something plastic…
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Parenting Truth: Everything Changes, Always
Time and distance do not always provide perspective for parents. To gain it, one must still the mind and allow the swirl of emotions, events and smelly diapers to coalesce into a meaningful narrative. But how? When? The thing about parenting is that it’s always in motion. There is no…
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The Wizard of Oz at the Straz: Bring the Kids
I hummed the songs all the way home Tuesday night after the Tampa premier of the Wizard of Oz at the Straz Center. Who doesn’t love “Follow the Yellow Brick Road” and “If I Only Had (a Brain) (a Heart) (the Nerve)”? Who doesn’t get that warm, fuzzy feeling when Dorothy…
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We Made You … Then You Made Me #ThanksBaby
I have partnered with Life of Dad and Pampers for this promotion. Your mom and I made you, boys. We don’t think about that much, I know, but … think about that. We made you. You grew inside your mom until you were ready for the world, and then ……
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I Found the Sun
He stirred and snorted. Awake, eyes closed. He said: “I found … the sun.” He found … What marvelous dream did I interrupt? The sun. I found the sun. Why was it lost? Where did he find it? How did he find it? Who did he tell? I like to think…
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The 5th Dad 2.0 Summit: Stories Everywhere You Looked
Stories simmered everywhere I looked this past weekend at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. I wish I had been there as a journalist. I wish I could have covered the fifth annual Dad 2.0 Summit in Washington, D.C., for a major news organization. For example: Esquire. The venerable men’s magazine — my…
Carter Gaddis, Writer & Editor 
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