My Blog

Here is my one life hack for how to be more jolly and less bah-humbugy this year. Get ready; it's a biggie. Turn off the news.  Scroll right past the headlines. Or, if you really want to break the cycle, unfollow every news outlet for the next thirty days. You might...

  On the 11th hour of the 11th day in the 11th month of 1918, the Allies of World War I signed an armistice with Germany. The document called for the "cessation of hostilities." Forty-some years later, my brother was born on the same date. Our paternal...

The first time I walked into that little cubicle and closed the flimsy curtain, I felt like I had just been handed a pop quiz. The future of our nation might depend on how I voted, and I had not studied for the test! I think I chose candidates by how well I liked...

  “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” Anne of Green Gables, by Lucy Maude Montgomery   I love this quote from Anne of Green Gables. Such hope. Such dreams. Such imagination. You might assume, Dear Reader, that Anne's creator shared the...

Lots of people my age have treasured memories of their family kitchens. They recall learning to bake, cook, experiment, and create. They can almost smell apple pie cooling on the window sill. These are not my memories. My mother fed us well. I'm not complaining. My...

  "Take Kindly the Counsel of the Years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth." Desiderata by Max Ehrmann.   You may have heard me say on a recent social media post that we have 17 grandchildren on earth and a couple in Heaven. We also have three...