Tag: travel

There is a woman who lives in my former town of Athens, Ohio. She makes the most delicious smelling soap and is pretty famous, although she would never admit to it.

Her name is Space and her company is playfully called Space Cadet Soaps. Space recently shared her musings on kindness after receiving an unexpected thank you ... Read More


The books on display at airport stores always catch my eye. They are the most important books. At least that’s what they seem to proclaim. They are the best-sellers, the ones everyone is talking about. The ones you better read if you don’t want to miss out.

I hope my next book will be one of the loud, important books everyone ... Read More


I’m starting to wonder how much snow a person can handle. I think my personal limit is about 2 inches.

If there has ever been a question about my level of kindness when it comes to snow, let me say, I’ve got lots of room to grow.

My 15-year-old daughter is outside clearing the driveway. I thought about helping her and then ... Read More


I lost my dear friend, Tom, just before Christmas.

He was in his late 80s and his quality of life was diminishing, but even so, it’s hard to say goodbye.

One of the great gifts of these past six months was the amount of times I was able to visit Tom and his wife, Ann. My family’s move from Ohio to South ... Read More


Have you ever been on one of those vacations that requires an additional vacation just to recover?

My dear friend, Ann, celebrated a special wedding anniversary with a trip to Europe with her husband. Ann deals with a lot of chronic pain, so you can imagine the toll that flight took on her body. Luckily, Ann knows the power of kindness ... Read More


There is a packet of hot chocolate sitting on my desk. I don’t care how cold the wind blows in South Dakota, I am determined not to drink it.

It’s not a weight loss or healthy eating thing. It’s a kindness thing.

I took my boys to Minneapolis for a weekend at the Mall of America to celebrate, well, nothing. We just ... Read More


When I was in college, I worked at a place called The Bridge Bar. It was appropriately named since it was indeed tucked next to a big bridge in a tiny town of about 200.

Being on the river, we had lots of boaters each summer, but my favorite customers came in on Sunday afternoons. They stopped by on something called ... Read More


Are you okay? Is everything alright? Are you waiting for someone?

Yes. Yes. And yes.

The last place I expected to find myself last Friday night was on a curb outside a Speedway gas station in a town with no posted population.

But there I was. Desperately wanting to be home after a week on the road and instead stranded in a parking ... Read More


My birthday is tomorrow, and I need your help deciding what to get myself. What I really want is for my husband to get a job, but since I don’t have any control over that, I’m going with Plan B. What I want for my birthday is to get high.

Now, I think we’ve known each other long enough for you ... Read More


I’m a sucker for a Hallmark movie. Love is in the air when the owner of a small-town bakery falls for the big-city developer who intends to shut her down, but then has a change of heart and sweeps in to save the building from demolition. Somebody hand me a bucket of popcorn and a hot cocoa.

In real life, love ... Read More