Family – Page 15 – FindYourBuriedTreasure

Super Bowl generates stories of life and sports

“Well, there’s always next year.” I remember saying this often, especially at the end of football and baseball seasons in Chicago. Not that I was a big sports fan, but still, the end of most seasons prompted a look ahead, with hope for the future. Even though we’ve lived in several different areas of the country, and are about to relocate to another one, my husband and I have remained staunch Chicago fans in terms of sports teams. And it’s been an interesting journey, literally [...]

By bettyliedtke|February 10th, 2017|Columns, Family, Travel|Comments Off

Never get bored of education

I was at St. Catherine’s last Saturday, taking part in a Toastmasters Leadership Institute. I wasn’t familiar with the campus, and it took me a little while to find the correct building. I thought I was being clever by simply following the line of cars pulling into one of the parking lots, until I found out they were there for a volleyball tournament, not the Toastmasters program. It was a bit of a distance to the building I actually needed to be in, but I [...]

By bettyliedtke|February 3rd, 2017|Columns, Family, Toastmasters|Comments Off

Much in our lives is a matter of perspective

It was one of those frigid, below-zero days we had a few weeks ago, when the biting wind made it feel even colder. “It’s supposed to be 30 degrees this weekend,” my husband said. I love it when the weather can still be below freezing, but it feels like a heat wave compared to what it’s been. Now, however, this wasn’t particularly welcome news. “It figures,” I said. “Just when we’re going out of town for the weekend.” We had planned a quick trip to [...]

By bettyliedtke|January 20th, 2017|Achieving Dreams and Goals, Columns, Family, Travel, Values|Comments Off

A new chapter is about to begin

As I turn the calendar page over to a brand new year, I’m also getting ready to turn the page to a brand new chapter of my life. It’s always been our dream that when my husband retired, we would relocate to someplace warm. That time is now, and suddenly something that we’ve always talked about – but that always seemed way off in the future – is now right around the corner. We’ve researched different areas of the country, and have visited several of [...]

By bettyliedtke|January 13th, 2017|Achieving Dreams and Goals, Columns, Family, Travel|Comments Off

The best gift ever

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.” “No, no, no,” I told him. “It’s a good cry. These are happy tears.” It was the morning of Christmas Eve, and my husband, nephew and I had just finished breakfast at the restaurant my dad used to go to every morning. He always sat with a group of friends he’s known forever, and whenever we were in town, we’d usually join them for breakfast. “We still miss your dad,” the owner of the [...]

By bettyliedtke|January 6th, 2017|Columns, Faith, Family, Holidays|Comments Off

An old holiday tradition gets a new, sweet twist

Baking Christmas cookies is one of my favorite holiday traditions. It takes me back to when I was small, baking Christmas cookies with my mom and my sisters, and it brings warm memories of the many Christmases since then in which I’ve continued the tradition. I usually spread my baking out over several days, but this year my sister and I decided to make cookies together, so we spent a full day in her kitchen last weekend, sifting, sorting, measuring, and mixing. By the end [...]

By bettyliedtke|December 16th, 2016|Columns, Family, Holidays, Values|Comments Off

A lesson in integrity comes from an unexpected source

They spoke with eloquence and a bit of humor. They spoke with wisdom and a lot of experience. They were members of a new Toastmasters club, and were giving a presentation at our recent Toastmasters conference. The man who transported them to the conference waited in the back of the room till they were done speaking, at which time he would take them back to prison. The three presenters were from a nearby Federal Prison Camp, a minimum security facility that the men now call [...]

By bettyliedtke|November 25th, 2016|Accountability, Columns, Family, Toastmasters, Values|2 Comments

It’s time to clean up and clear out

We’ve reached the age and stage in our lives when it’s time to downsize, so my husband and I have been spending our time going through closets and cabinets, boxes and bins, and all the nooks and crannies where “stuff” resides and hides. It’s been an interesting endeavor. Sometimes I feel like I’m on a treasure hunt, especially when I come across something I lost track of years ago, wondering from time to time what ever happened to it. Other times I feel like I’ve [...]

By bettyliedtke|October 28th, 2016|Buried Treasure, Columns, Family, Organizing|Comments Off

A family follow-up warms the heart

I got an email a few days ago that had me walking on air. It was from the husband of the woman I wrote about last week. In case you missed that column, it was about a woman I saw in church the previous Sunday. She was at Mass with her four young sons, and I was impressed by them all – the boys, who were very well-dressed and well-behaved, and the mom, who was obviously a woman of strong family values, and who was [...]

By bettyliedtke|September 23rd, 2016|Columns, Faith, Family, Values|Comments Off

A close-up view of a saintly woman

It was a few minutes before Mass was to start on Sunday morning. A woman and four young boys came in and sat in the pew in front of me. Two thoughts immediately struck me. The first was, “Wow. That woman must have her hands full!” The other was to note how well-dressed the boys were. They ranged in age from ten to two, which I know because I asked the mom after Mass. Each of the boys, including the youngest, was wearing a button-down, [...]

By bettyliedtke|September 16th, 2016|Columns, Faith, Family, Values|Comments Off

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