Two round trips changed everything

February 16, 2023

It was only supposed to be one round trip. For the past 18 years, since she arrived to take her place on Earth, I have traveled back east to celebrate the Princess of Boston’s birthday. In truth, there were a few surgeries that prevented my sharing her cake, but I know she understood. Being at family occasions is where so many of our memories reside. “But, Gogo, could you come a bit early?” This year, there was indeed a second special occasion. And proud, puff-chested grandparents respond to all invitations when possible. Rory was named captain of her High School Quiz Show ...

‘Faithful’ acts drove life of Mother Teresa

February 11, 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. Mother Teresa provides us with an example of faithfulness. At the age of 12, Mother Teresa felt a call to missionary life. When she was 18 she left her parent’s home to join the Sisters of Loreto in Ireland. She did not see her family again in her lifetime. This was part of the sacrifice of being a missionary. ...

View from Hickory Heights: Using the words ‘I am’

February 10, 2023

How often do you use the words “I am”? It is a way to identify yourself. I often begin a talk with those words to identify what my credentials are. I think of myself as a child of God, a widow, a mother, a grandmother, a retired educator, and a columnist. All of those roles I have fulfilled for many years. How important are those credentials? They are the very essence of my being. All of them are important to me. As a child of God my faith has seen me through numerous experiences. I weathered the storm of a failed romance as a college student. I have been forced to bury two ...

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 ...