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Forty years ago I sat in a room full of young aspiring pastor/theologians.  We were listening to Dr. Tom Boyd, a dynamic philosopher who had the unique gift of grounding the seemingly esoteric philosophical concepts into real life.  I do remember “cogito ergo sum” (I think therefore I am – Rene Descartes) from freshman philosophy 101.  I can think 🤔 about most anything any time, for any reason.  So I certainly “am”.  The two things Dr. Boyd said that have stayed with me are: 1) “We better take care of this earth 🌎, it’s the only home we have.  …

Most of my heroes are women. My June 10th blog told the story of Crystal, a single mom, that I gave a Lyft to, in March. She is battling multiple myeloma (a form of bone cancer). As a result of her disease she had to quit working, lost her apartment, and found herself on the edge of disaster, all the while going for chemotherapy at Presbyterian-St. Luke’s. I have stayed in close touch with her as I am selfishly the beneficiary of her grace filled living. We connected the day before Thanksgiving to go shopping. I am happy to report…

I remember the first time I heard term “the Artist’s Curse”. It was my son Mateo, who was in conversation with an other musician about the reality of having the need to create and share, above all else. This is what I know: writers write, painters paint, dancers dancers, poets ‘poet’, singers sing, musicians play, and Lyft driving preachers get to hear the stories of those who bear the curse, and share both their joy and pain. The Choreographer: it was Monday afternoon and I thought why not turn on my Lyft app on my day off. I had given…

Rarely do I have the privilege of paying tribute to a woman who lived to 101.  Last night I was driving for Lyft in Commerce City.  I had just dropped off a gutsy, resilient woman who told me her story of recently becoming a citizen and voting for the first time.  We were chatting in her parking lot when I got a phone call. By the caller ID I knew it was Ann, Lolita’s daughter. I said to my passenger, “I need to take this call, it’s about one of my heroes who is 101 and in hospice”.  She said…

It was last Friday night and I had just dropped off the crew from Wisconsin at Red Rocks when I got a ride from two young women in Southwest Littleton. It was obvious they were longtime friends and they were headed to the Grizzly Rose for a night of kicking up their heels. We were driving down Jewell Street when one of them said “I can’t believe they’re going to close the White Fence Farm!”  For those of you not familiar with this area, the White Fence Farm sits on about 10 acres in suburbia. For years it has been…

Amed: I began my Friday afternoon with a call to the light rail station off of Alameda and Cherokee. A 40-something man hopped into the front seat and greeted me warmly. He had a very thick accent and began the conversation by saying “Please excuse my English I’ve only been in Denver for 20 months”.  Without prompting he began to tell me that he had come to the US from Egypt three and a half years ago.  He told me he was headed to work, on the west side of town, for a construction company. I made an ignorant assumption.…

Monday is my day off so my new routine includes water aerobics (I love it— that makes me like an official old guy), and my Lyft driving.  Last Monday’s rides were about as perfect a Lyft day as I could’ve wanted. Every ride seem to flow into the other and each person I took was appreciative, friendly, engaging and unique. I picked Jack up in what is now called River North. The area used to be the warehouse district along the railroad tracks and now it is gentrification on steroids.  Jack was headed to the car rental place in the…

I took her on Thursday morning from what can only be called the barrio in southwest Denver, to the campus of the University of Colorado at Denver. It was a 13 mile ride and I learned something each and every mile.  I can only write this out of my own experience, in that I was born a privileged white guy in Pueblo, Colorado. Pueblo has been 50% Hispanic for 100 years. My graduating class of 545 had 18 graduates whose last name was Martinez. I spent 23 years of my life living there. I also spent 11 years living in…

Almost three years ago I launched my Lyft career. After two test rides on a Thursday evening, I headed out at 5:30am on a Saturday morning from my safe cave on Washington Park.  From that first early morning adventure until last Saturday, I will tell you it is my favorite time to go Lyfting. One— you have the streets to yourself.  Two—most Lyft drivers have turned in to bed after ‘combat driving’ with drunks downtown on Friday night.  Three—you get two kinds of rides, taking hungover folk home or to their cars, or getting folk to work.  This past Saturday…

I was all set to write about three rides I had this Saturday morning when I was reminded that tomorrow is my AA sponsor’s 43rd birthday. I write this with his permission; you will notice his picture. The three rides I took, although interesting stories—can wait. Richard is now 91 years old, his mind is sharp, his heart is full, and his body is ever so slowly diminishing. I went to see him this morning in a rehab facility near his home in Capitol Hill.  I spent about 45 minutes visiting with Richard and when I finished I thought “I…