I went to visit my father recently. He had a stroke about 9 months ago and is now a permanent resident in an assisted living facility. He hasn’t yet regained the use of the right side of his body, so he relies heavily on my step-mom and his nurses to tend to his every need.
Every several months I have the ... Read More
Remember the old National Enquirer magazine commercials? “Inquiring minds want to know. I want to know.”
I talk about the health benefits of giving and how awkward situations can be smoothed out with kindness, but the more opportunities I have to speak in public and get immediate feedback from those messages, the more I realize I’m getting it wrong.
Well, maybe not ... Read More
My husband has banned me from Amazon. Not for shopping. For reading book reviews. Specifically, my book reviews.
I wrote a book and because it was about kindness, I assumed everyone would love it. So when someone left me a two-star review, I cried. Seriously, stupid I know, but I boo-hooed for almost two days. One day for each star.
The review ... Read MoreWhen I was in kindergarten, we had a whole lesson about what to do when you find a lost wallet. We acted out make-believe scenarios in which one of us would be the person who drops the wallet, one would be the person who finds it and another would be the officer at the police station. Funny, we never talked ... Read More
I have a confession. People in uniform make me nervous.
I’m fine with a doctor’s coat or a fireman’s jacket, but put a police officer’s crisp navy shirt and peaked dress cap in front of me, and I get a little shaky. Maybe I have a deeply hidden guilty conscience. I’ve never had a bad experience with authority; it’s just that ... Read More
I imagine, one day, when they’re very old and can’t get around quite as well as they do now, Gene Hanson and Darlene Jackson Hanson will sit next to each other and say, “Do you remember when…?”
Only there is no way they will remember it all. Not because their minds will be failing, but because of the abundant life they’ve ... Read More
Have you ever been driving down the street, carefully obeying the rules of the road, when all of a sudden someone cuts you off?
You’re forced to hit the brakes because some madman is either driving like a bat out of Hades or didn’t check his mirrors well enough to notice you were there.
How about those times you walk into the ... Read More
I’m afraid I’ve forgotten what it’s like to have small children. How is that even possible? My kids are 12, 11 and 6. It’s not like they’re adults. They are definitely still in need of guidance and discipline, but life is a whole lot different (dare I say easier?) than when they were toddlers.
I see moms walking through the grocery ... Read More
What do you want to be when you grow up? I sure hope you’re not one of those people who thinks they are already too old to decide. Isn’t that what the new year is for? New beginnings?
I see the commercials on TV telling me I should be skinny or try a new exercise machine or buy a book to ... Read More
My friend was telling me a story about her son who is a freshman in college. He noticed a peer consistently walking to class without a coat. So he gave him his own.
No fanfare. No conversation or touching exchange of words as the coat was quietly laid on his desk. Just an offering that says, “I see you and I ... Read More
