Dear Young Me, I see you—sitting in the back of your dad’s barbershop on San Antonio’s East Side, sketching cartoons in the margins of your schoolbook, pretending the broom is a microphone, spinning dreams bigger than the room you’re in. You don’t know it yet, but all those daydreams? They’re not silly. They’re seeds. I […]
Note: This is an excerpt from Sonny’s upcoming book – What’s the Best That Can Happen? A Motivational Memoir When I was about 10, I attended a Cub Scout meeting at a classmate’s house and couldn’t believe he had his own room. It was filled with toys and shelves lined with inviting books. Hanging from […]
San Antonio Express-News master writer, Rich Marini asked me to share my, Best Day Ever for a feature article. I am blessed to do what I love and love what I do and I believe that we are never happier than when we are in the service of others. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “The […]
San Antonio Express-News master writer, Rich Marini asked me to share my, Best Day Ever for a feature article. I am blessed to do what I love and love what I do and I believe that we are never happier than when we are in the service of others. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “The […]
In a season crowded with instant messages and same-day deliveries, a handwritten love note stands apart because it asks something rare of the writer: time, intention, and care. Especially when written in cursive, it becomes more than a message. It becomes a keepsake. Unlike a text or email, a handwritten love note has weight. You […]
When computer science professor Randy Pausch stood before a packed lecture hall at Carnegie Mellon University in 2007, he was not speaking as a man defeated by terminal cancer, but as a man profoundly alive. His message, later captured in The Last Lecture, is not about dying—it’s about living with purpose, gratitude, and unshakable joy. […]
Happiness—an elusive idea for many—is often chased through success, possessions, or someone else’s approval. But Marcus Aurelius, the Stoic philosopher and Roman emperor, understood something deeper. In a world that often feels heavy, uncertain, and loud, he left behind a quiet secret: Real strength—and real happiness—come from within. Here are five timeless insights from Aurelius […]
He never asks for anything. Just gives—his time, his strength, his heart—over and over again, with small, steadfast acts of love. That’s fatherhood. It’s waking before dawn to warm up the car on a frosty morning so his child won’t be cold on the way to school. It’s making up a bedtime story—yes, even with […]
Recently, my wife Linda and I had to say goodbye to both of our precious doggies—Happy and Annie. For 15 wonderful years, they filled our home with endless joy, laughter, and boundless affection. Happy, our soft-coated Wheaten Terrier, truly lived up to his name. He wasn’t just happy—he was a four-legged burst of sunshine, his […]
In 2016, after his courageous battle with Alzheimer’s, we said goodbye to a real teen idol: Bobby Vee, who, in the 60’s, according to Billboard magazine, had thirty-eight Hot 100 chart hits, ten of which reached the Top 20, and six gold singles in his career. My connection to Bobby begins at the concession stand […]
