Drinking responsibly means don’t spill it

February 9, 2023

When I first read that sign, I laughed. Dear Richard, my spousal roommate, refers to the spilling of distilled beverages as alcohol abuse. I did not grow up knowing about alcohol abuse because we had no liquor in the house. My mother was not anti-alcohol, she just had never lived where it was a part of life. Actually, I just lied in the paragraph above. There was a slim brown bottle (which I later learned was called a “fifth”) in the blind corner of the kitchen dish cupboard. I think my mother stashed it there to make sure I didn’t discover it. When you are a single parent ...

Snafu puts income, insurance at risk

February 4, 2023

By ROBERT STANGER Social Security, which dates back to the Great Depression year of 1935 and the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, has certainly been a boon to our family. Basically, as is the case with millions of other recipients, it has allowed my wife and me to live during our retirement years without serious financial worries. Although both of us benefited from small inheritances, without Social Security our lives would have been very difficult financially, since I was unable to create much of a “nest egg” during my working years, and Judith retired ...

Charm of rural living

February 3, 2023

I have now lived in this area for more than 50 years. My husband, a dairy farmer, brought me to this area. When we first moved here, we lived in a trailer. We had to be near his work. His parents allowed us to move the trailer into their yard. It was small, but it was ours. We had two children before we moved out. Five years later we made the move to Hickory Heights. We did not name our farm. It was named by people who lived here before us. We found the name in a newspaper article about a wedding that was held in the yard. Once we had our house fixed up, I got a call from a ...

Dear Abby, I miss you

February 2, 2023

Ten years ago in this space, I mourned the loss of Dear Abby. Abigail Van Buren had died at age 94. I felt like a wise old member of the family had passed on – similar to the way I felt the day Erma Bombeck passed … the day the laughter died. Like everyone else, I met both those ladies in my morning newspaper. Unlike most people, I was privileged to meet them both …when they traveled as passengers on American Airlines. I read Dear Abby daily, whether I lived in Boston, New York or San Diego. Sometimes, she was like a second mother, addressing some of the sticky subjects I ...

What’s in a name? Depends on your party affiliation

January 30, 2023

Here are some made up words, terms and truths: ¯ R. I. N. O: Republican in name only – term applied when supposedly a GOP member was not aligned with party ideology. Under Trump and since, there is no official Republican Party platform; policy was what Donald Trump said it was. Platform policy and ideology were open for interpretation. The Party invited in all who would adhere to this arrangement, even those with extreme views; enter Marjorie Taylor Greene, Proud Boys, etc. Trump gas lighted traditional Republicans whose loyalty was to policy and not to Trump. ¯ W. O. K. E.: ...

Finding a spiritual hero to shape lives in Ignatius

January 28, 2023

Editor’s note: This saint series will feature a saint and how he or she is a meaningful example for us today. Pope Francis wrote that “the saints help all the faithful” for “their lives are concrete proof that it is possible to put the Gospel into practice.” St. Ignatius’ example helps us to look up to spiritual heroes. Ignatius was born in 1491 and was the youngest of 13 children. He grew up in Northern Spain. His desire for material things amplified as he entered his late teens. He also lived a life of promiscuity. Ignatius became an officer for the Spanish army and ...