Tag: kindness

When 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 sat alone in a small sterile room for 75 minutes yesterday waiting to see a doctor. I had already taken my top off and was wearing the white robe with the pink collar they give to all the breast cancer patients.

At some point I gave up on the straight chair and decided to catch a little nap on the ... 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

I have the flu. Pretty much everyone I’ve talked to in the last few days seems to have it. I wonder if you might have a touch of it too?

It’s not the 24 hour kind or the kind that has you running for the bathroom. No cough or sniffles, but you might find your eyes leaking occasionally.

It’s the kind that ... 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

The demon of depression has chased me since I was a kid. I remember being in elementary school and feeling like my chest had a heavy weight sitting on it. I didn’t know what it was at the time– even after a teenage suicide attempt, it took me well into my adulthood to come up with the diagnosis “depression.”

The last ... 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

Jordan almost started her New Year’s Resolution yesterday. She wants to see how many days in a row she can log 10,000 steps on her fitbit. We were about four shows deep into a mother-daughter Tiny House Hunters marathon when she realized she only had 2,000 steps. Day One was going to be a bust. Until…

Jordan at age 12 figured ... 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