I would imagine that at some point, each of us has been to a wake or a funeral. For a friend or neighbor, a dear family member. My first wake was for my grandmother when I was 10 years old. No one... Read more >>

It was early morning. My daughter-in-law Suzanne had been sitting in a chair by the window since the night before. She sat gazing out the window, unable to let our eyes meet for fear of what I would... Read more >>

People pass in and out of our lives all the time.  Most of the time we are too busy to even notice.  But every once in a great while someone special comes along.  And we stop... Read more >>

Our dog, Ellie Joy, joined our family the Christmas of 1999.  Our daughter, Landon, who was five at the time, had wanted a dog for over a year, so Santa decided that was a good time for her to... Read more >>

Jury duty, again. This makes the fourth time I have been called to sit a holding room for hours, flipping through magazines, wandering "the halls of Justice" aimlessly, only to be told... Read more >>

I’ve always been one to believe in the magic of second chances. When something goes wrong, there may always be opportunity awaiting me around the corner; when God closes a door, he opens a... Read more >>

In 1995 I moved back to my childhood home to provide care and companionship to my aging parents. Mom died seven years later, leaving Dad and me to test every known boundary of parent/child... Read more >>

Personalizing the Message Common to both genders were people’s attempts to be comforting while maintaining emotional distance.   “If there’s anything I can do . . .”... Read more >>

Eight years ago, my husband and I lost our thirteen year old son, Eric, to Ewings Sarcoma Bone Cancer. He battled this horrible disease for sixteen months. For the next four years, I had my own... Read more >>

Se*man*tics (noun) 1. the study of meaning in language—the study of how meaning in language is created by the use and interrelationships of words, phrases, and sentences. There are words in... Read more >>