A Beacon of Light

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  • My name is Kevin Carroll. I was born and raised in San Francisco, California, where I attended Saint Ignatius College Preparatory. I am a graduate of both Santa Clara University and the University of San Francisco. Following a 40-year career in teaching and pastoral ministry, I launched a new career as a writer and speaker, primarily on the topic of gratitude.

    I currently live in San José, California. My wife, Kathy, and I have three adult sons and five precious grandchildren. I have much for which to be grateful.

    I can be reached via email at kmc43sjc@gmail.com

    My books are available for purchase online from Amazon. I also have copies of some of these titles at my home for those who would like to buy them directly from me.

    A Moment’s Pause for Gratitude  (2017)

    Cherries in the Summer  (2021)

    The Ambassador of 38th Avenue  (2022)

    Dad: 12 Questions…  (2023)

    A Focus on Gratitude  (2024)

    Through the Lens of Gratitude  (2024)

  • November 21

    Reflection Question of the Day for November 21: 

    “In what ways can people best express their gratitude to you? What can a person do to make you feel truly appreciated?”

    Excerpt from: 

    A Focus on Gratitude
    Kevin Carroll
    (Balboa Press, 2024)

  • November 20

    Reflection Question of the Day for November 20: 

    “What is your favorite gratitude quote? If you don’t have one, find one. Use it to feel inspired to motivate yourself to embrace an attitude of gratitude in your life.”

    Excerpt from: 

    A Focus on Gratitude
    Kevin Carroll
    (Balboa Press, 2024)

  • Back Again!

    “You can shake the sand 
    from your shoes, but it 
    will never leave your soul.” 
    Nelson Mandela

    Just one year. Just one brief year of our lives. Just one brief year of our lives that changed the course of our futures irrevocably. Two kids — Dan Pasini and I were 20 years old at the time — were invited to spend one year teaching in a Catholic high school in Nassau, Bahamas. How could we possibly turn down an invitation like that? We couldn’t, and we didn’t. 

    Yesterday around noon time, Dan and I arrived at Nassau International Airport. I’ve been back to the island several times since the end of our teaching experience at Saint Augustine’s College in 1975, but this is Dan’s first visit in 50 years. It didn’t take long for us to feel very much at home.

    After exiting the airport terminal and walking across the street toward the car rental center, a Bahamian gentleman asked if we needed a taxi ride. I thanked him and told him that we needed a rental car, as we planned to drive around the island, including a visit to the SAC campus. I mentioned that we had taught there 50 years ago. He said, “Then you must know Derek Rutherford and Lydia Isaacs.” I assured him that I do remember them, as I taught them both. He pulled out his cell phone and immediately called Lydia, then handed the phone to me. I’m not sure who was more shocked. Lydia and I had a brief conversation and made plans to meet-up with several of her classmates in the bar here at the hotel on the weekend.

    This morning, Dan and I stopped by the office of another former student, Sangena McClain. When I was here in April, she took good care of me after I fell from an unusually high curb and landed face-down on the pavement in a busy intersection after dark. Her cousin works in an optometry office, so she took me there to have my classes repaired. I intentionally had not informed Sangena that I would be in Nassau this week, so when I arrived at her workplace this morning, her coworker allowed me to walk right up behind her desk. To say that Sangena was surprised would be an understatement. She’s going to stop by this weekend, too, and bring a number of her former classmates with her.

    Dan and I took a walk along the promenade at Junkanoo Beach, which is located directly across the street from our hotel. Despite the 80% humidity, it was a comfortable morning. At one point, we walked out onto a concrete pier with the intention of taking a few photos. We were pleasantly surprised to meet a woman from one of the cruise ships in harbor today who was taking some selfie photos after doing a bit of snorkeling. When we approached her, I asked if she would like me to take a photo of her with Paradise Island in the background. She enthusiastically accepted my offer. Dan and I ended up talking with her for about an hour. Jacque, a native of Brazil, owns a global awareness consulting firm that specializes in intercultural coaching, training, and consulting. The conversation was delightful. We ended up meeting up with her for lunch later in the day.

    Tomorrow Dan and I will visit the Saint Augustine’s College campus. The principal, Mrs. Marici Thompson, is one of Dan’s former students. We are looking forward to touring the campus, including a walk up the hill to the former monastery (now closed) where Dan and I lived in guest rooms for the duration of the 1974-75 academic year. While the faces we see on campus, of faculty and students, may have changed, our memories of our former colleagues and students will be with us throughout the morning as we roam the campus. 

    So grateful for this opportunity.  

  • November 19

    Reflection Question of the Day for November 19: 

    “How does a focus on gratitude impact your thoughts and actions throughout each day?”

    Excerpt from: 

    A Focus on Gratitude
    Kevin Carroll
    (Balboa Press, 2024)

  • November 18

    Reflection Question of the Day for November 18: 

    “Who is #1 on your gratitude list this week? How have you, or how will you, express your gratitude to this person before the end of the month?”

    Excerpt from: 

    A Focus on Gratitude
    Kevin Carroll
    (Balboa Press, 2024)

  • November 17

    Reflection Question of the Day for November 17: 

    “What is one thing you’ve seen or experienced in the past month which made you smile and filled you with a sense of gratefulness?”

    Excerpt from: 

    A Focus on Gratitude
    Kevin Carroll
    (Balboa Press, 2024)

  • Unsung Heroes

    “Cultivate the habit 
    of being grateful for 
    every good thing
    that comes to you.” 
    Ralph Waldo Emerson

    We’ve all heard stories of people who have lost their luggage while flying from one destination to another. Few things can be as unsettling as arriving in a foreign country, or anywhere for that matter, for a two-week visit and learning that your luggage did not accompany you on the flight — and the airline representative at your destination has no idea where your luggage might be. It seems that such stories are fairly common. In reality, they are quite rare.

    What we don’t hear — ever — is appreciation for the airline employees who consistently get our luggage from one place to another successfully. This is something we all take for granted. It’s just expected that our checked luggage will arrive at our destination at the same time we do. That’s simply how it’s supposed to work.

    In reality, most luggage arrives at the right airport on time every day. In a report updated within the last 24 hours, Delta Airlines, which I will be flying tomorrow, loses or misplaces just .2% of bags checked by passengers. Considering layovers, changes of planes, airport congestion, volume of luggage, flight delays, and human error, that’s an amazing statistic.

    Like so many other things in life, we take these men and women for granted. We know they exist. Occasionally, we may see them hard at work either through a terminal window or a window in our aircraft. Are we able to recognize the humanity of these workers, being mindful that they got up early, said goodbye to family members, made their way to the airport, and put in a full day of hard labor to accommodate our needs? 

    Rarely do passengers interact directly with those who handle our luggage, so expressing our gratitude to them directly isn’t usually possible. That’s okay, though. We can still feel grateful for the service they provide for us. We can still say a quick prayer of thanks for them when we see them from a distance. And we can acknowledge the good work they did when we are sharing stories of our travels with family and friends.

    As American journalist Germany Kent said so eloquently, “It’s a funny thing about life, once you begin to take note of the things you are grateful for, you begin to lose sight of the things that you lack.” 

    Gratitude makes a difference!  

  • November 16

    Reflection Question of the Day for November 16: 

    “Have you ever given much thought to your ability to speak? How does the way you use this gift reflect your level of gratitude for the ability to do so?”

    Excerpt from: 

    A Focus on Gratitude
    Kevin Carroll
    (Balboa Press, 2024)

  • “Play Ball!”

    “There are only 
    two seasons: 
    winter and baseball.” 
    Bill Veeck, Jr.

    It was an overcast mid-November morning in San José when Kathy and I arrived at the Evergreen campus of LeyVa Middle School for Liam’s final game of the fall baseball season today. I was a bit disappointed that everyone who showed up to enjoy watching a group of kids play baseball on a Saturday morning found the gates to the empty LeyVa parking lot closed and locked. It seems that Mr. Jim Grassi, the principal at LeyVa, is unwilling to allow Little League parents, coaches, and other fans to park in the lot on Saturday mornings, despite the fact that he, himself, had been a player in Evergreen Little League when he was a kid and that Evergreen Little League pays the school district for use of the field. Go figure.

    Despite this unfortunate situation, after finding a parking spot in the neighborhood and walking quite a distance to the baseball field at the rear of the campus, I was reminded of the words of legendary baseball announcer Harry Caray, “Hello again, everybody. It’s a bee-yoo-ti-ful day for baseball!”

    Most people associate baseball with spring and summer. Many would consider mid-November to be the off-season. The World Series is over. major league baseball stadiums are empty, unless they are being used for concerts or other community events. But all across America, die-hard lovers of the game of baseball are still playing “fall ball.” My grandson, Liam, is one of those kids.

    Liam’s team is blessed with an excellent coaching staff, men who recognize that baseball is a game and that learning to play the game is a developmental process. They don’t expect perfection from their players. Week after week, they focus on improvement of skills and a better overall understanding of the game. They correct without criticizing. They encourage without pressuring the kids to do more than they are capable of doing at this age. They inspire and motivate the kids, helping them to understand that baseball is a game to be enjoyed, not a chore to be endured. And respect for the players and coaches of the other team is a high priority for this coaching staff.

    Watching Liam, now 11-years-old, step up to the plate for an at-bat reminded me of my own experience of playing baseball in fifth grade. I did not possess the level of confidence Liam exudes on the field. When he gets up to bat, he has every expectation that he will get a hit. You can see this clearly in his posture. My at-bats were experiences of fear, mostly fear of not getting hit by a pitch, but also fear of my coach’s disapproval when I struck out. My hope as a batter was to draw a walk, because I had no confidence that I was capable of hitting the ball. Not surprisingly, Liam had more hits (two singles) in today’s game than I had in my entire fifth grade season!

    In my childhood, the focus seemed to be on winning games, not developing skills for the future. We ended our fifth grade season as league champions, but none of my teammates went on to play baseball in their high school years. Liam’s coaches are far more concerned with enhancing player development than winning games at this level. 

    Time will tell, but my guess is that these kids are going to enjoy playing baseball much more and for much longer than I did. Going to baseball practice and playing in games should be enjoyable. Long-time Pittsburgh Pirates’ star Willie Stargell made an excellent point when he said, “When they start the game, they don’t yell, ‘Work ball!’ They say, ‘Play ball!’”  

  • November 15

    Reflection Question of the Day for November 15: 

    “It’s the middle of November. How are you feeling today?”

    Excerpt from: 

    A Focus on Gratitude
    Kevin Carroll
    (Balboa Press, 2024)