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Words (NOT) of Wisdom

I had a Zoom meeting a few days ago with other members of a neighborhood club I belong to. The main item on the agenda – other than just touching  base and catching up with each other – was voting to elect a new treasurer, since our previous one had to resign due to health issues. After the vote, our new treasurer shared the story that when interviewing for her first job, she had to take a number of tests [...]

A plea for help

My blog this week is a plea for help, one that will benefit people in desperate circumstances in one of the poorest countries in the world. Yet it has to do with the medical crisis that is affecting us all – here in the United States and around the world, including the Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Southwest Uganda. Those who have been regular readers of my column and blog know about my work in Uganda with Pathways to Hope Africa, [...]

No black or white answers

“We’re black, aren’t we?” That’s the question my friend’s five-year-old granddaughter asked her this morning. Her heart broke when she heard the question, and mine broke when she told me about it. It broke even more when she told me her granddaughter’s next question, in which she asked about a close family friend. “She’s white, isn’t she?” It’s not as though her granddaughter didn’t recognize the difference in skin color before, it’s just that it didn’t matter. But now it [...]

By |May 29th, 2020|Columns, Family, Making a Difference, Values|

A celebration of friendship

“It’s amazing, after not connecting, in some cases for 20+ years, how much has changed. But in some ways, it’s stayed the same. I guess that’s friendship.” That was a statement in an email from one of my “old college buds” after we had a reunion via Zoom a few nights ago. I couldn’t have said it better myself. We were a group of friends who met in college, and stayed close even after graduating within a few years of each [...]

By |May 22nd, 2020|Columns, Family, Holidays, Travel, Values|

Old Friends, New View

I had a visit this week from a friend who lives in Canada and whom I haven’t seen in more than three years. Next week I will be visiting her in Thunder Bay where she lives. Also, if our schedules work out, next week I will also be visiting with some old friends from college. We stayed close after we all graduated, but over the years, when jobs, moves, families, and other circumstances took us in different directions – literally [...]

By |May 15th, 2020|Columns, Family, Travel|

A Different Mother’s Day

I think it was Erma Bombeck who said, “Mother’s Day is the day on which the family gathers together to thank their mom for everything she does – like cook a big Mother’s Day dinner for everyone.” Actually, Mother’s Day is a day on which many families traditionally take Mom out for brunch or dinner, so she doesn’t have to cook. But there’s nothing traditional about Mother’s Day this year. Most restaurants around the country are still closed, or unavailable [...]