Instead of the great southwest, Thelma and Louise recently headed for New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Well, not really. But my friend, Ann, and I joked about the similarity of the two of us heading off on a do-as-we-please odyssey in mid-May. Thelma (Ann) was planning to visit family in ...

What’s optional and what’s not? I’m not thinking about the purchase of a new car. I’m talking living life. We may choose to decline some of the “bells and whistles” the salesperson offers as we’re negotiating the deal for a new car. But are there aspects of living life in this ...

The centerpiece of many of our summertime gardens is the hydrangea. These wonderful shrubs with their elegant flowers and their old-fashioned charm are often the main event of the garden. The hydrangea is low maintenance, comfortable in almost any kind of soil and produces large and colorful ...

This weekend we celebrate Memorial Day. When I was growing up it was called Decoration Day. I remember making the rounds of the cemeteries with my grandparents. We took flowers that grew in the yard to decorate the graves. At first it was just the graves of my great-grandfather and my ...

In 1978, my family moved to Warren, Pa. As a staunch New Englander, I didn’t expect to love Warren, but it was hard not to. The town was pretty, the people were nice, and it turned out to be a great place to raise children — the best compliment you can pay a small town. Yet there is ...

On Mother’s Day we sang the song “It Is Well with My Soul” at church. At first, I thought this a strange song for Mother’s Day, but as I thought more about it, it made sense. If you are a mother and can say it is well with my soul all must be good in your world. The author who ...