If you don’t like our weather, just wait a few days. My Dad — and everyone else’s — likely repeated some version of this refrain in every season due to the fickle weather in Northeast Ohio. ...

Dad was an old-school guy with an ancient soul. He rejected the notion of becoming an early adopter to technology or following the latest fads. He believed the old ways were the best ways and there was no need to jump onto modern bandwagons. They wouldn't hold up like back in his day anyway! ...

For most 90-somethings with osteoporosis, a series of broken bones, surgery, hospital stays and nursing home care would spell the beginning of the end. But my fiercely independent mother never even whispered, “It’s curtains for me now.” It has always been a matter of mind over matter for Mom. As my Dad used to always say (borrowing from Ben Franklin), “You can do anything you set your mind to.” ...

Betty White demonstrated how to live well, not just live long. She found joy along her journey because she made a decision “try to see the funny side and the upside, not the downside. I get bored with people who complain about this or that. It’s such a waste of time.”  ...

Dad would often warn me against the corrosive effects of procrastination. "He who hesitates is lost," he'd say. He knew this from personal experience. Dad often compared himself to Sisyphus, the mythological tragic figure destined to roll an enormous boulder up a mountain every morning, just to watch it roll down again every night. Then he'd have to take up his arduous burden again the following morning, again and forever... the perfect metaphor for a living hell. I got the message, although I wasn't sure what steps to take in order to escape the torturous fate of procrastination. ...

“Better late than never,” Dad would say. “It’s polite to be fashionably late. It’s rude to show up on time. Nobody’s actually ready then." He wasn’t in a hurry. In all things, he paused, pondered and paced himself. When it came to the clock, Dad may not have said it best. ...

My father was a man of many words, hence the title of my column and blog. But while Dad Said it Best, Mom has always led by example. At 92, my mother is an enduring example of  beauty, grace and strength. I know now how Mom's actions said more than words ever could. ...

What does it mean to act your age? When I was young, I was ahead of myself, eager to grow up and gain the freedoms of adulthood. Now that I'm suddenly over the hill, I'm eager to retain as much youthfulness as I can. Apparently, I've never learned to act my age. Have you? ...