I would like to wish all of the readers in the United States a Happy Thanksgiving and all of the readers who are not celebrating the holiday an extra happy Thursday! As the name implies, Thanksgiving is a day to give thanks for all of the good in your life. This can be good people, good fortune, good health and all of the other blessings that we tend to take for granted in our…
Four tiny words that speak volumes to all those who are willing to listen. Not every epiphany is going to be an eloquent long soliloquy. Some of the most important pieces of advice are in simple little words that even a child can understand. Maybe because children still have an honest and unclutter mind which allows them to read and evaluate on content and not style, word count or the potential for hidden meaning. …
There are times when it is very easy to become livid at another person who has hurt someone whom we care about. But I am beginning to learn that sometimes, the acts which appear to be very cruel are actually some of life’s greatest gifts disguised as life’s hardest blows. It might take some time to discover how to get the extravagant wrapping off of the gift, but in time the true value is…
There always seems to be this burning desire to see the family that you wish you had. We use rose-colored glasses and excuse behavior that we would never tolerate from others. And all too often, we find ways to blame ourselves for the mean or hurtful actions of our family members. We tell ourselves that we deserve to be treated poorly or that we somehow failed to be the loving sibling or child that we…
Humans were never meant to be solitary creatures. But progress and innovation have made that fact easy to forget. Now a trip to the store produces food and clothing, shelter is bought not built, as is our means of getting from point a to point b. We no longer need the help of others to meet these needs. It would appear that by earning money, one can live completely independently from others. But the…
Little Golden Books, now celebrating their 75th birthday, were among my favorite childhood books. Appearing on the market in 1942, Little Golden Books were the first high-quality books for children most parents could afford. Priced at just 25 cents and available where people shopped every day, they caused an instant sensation and were sold by the hundreds of thousands. My all-time favorite is still The Little Red Hen, nearly seven decades later. In fact,…
The famous saying says that there are three types of friends- friends for a reason, friends for a season and friends for a lifetime. In my humble opinion, all three types are priceless and enrich your entire life because you carry them all in your heart forever. Appreciate the time that you share with each friend and the lessons that come with their friendship.
It can be truly amazing how much a person can love another person. And yet sadly we do not fully comprehend the depth and completeness of that love until we are faced with living without it. And when I say without it, I really mean without the earthly reminder of it when we see that person or hear their voice. This kind of love is not really limited to the short-term capabilities of the…
“Why, why am I still here.” Her question to me was so simple, and her labored words told me just how much she wanted to be done here. But I had no definitive answer for her other than these difficult words. At 87, no one more deserves freedom and peace than you. But I’m a believer- and so are you, in a higher power. And that power protects us and guides…
“I feel that my work in progress has progressed to its final page and someone has glued it to the cover because there’s no more to be written,” she said to me in one of our many, many email conversations. It took me some time to process the gravity of her eloquent words as she tried to gently prepare me for the future. I needed to find a way to translate the feelings in my…