I was cleaning house the other day when I came across an old box of papers that I had written in college.  I sat down and began reading through them.  It was a nice stroll down memory lane until I found the term paper at the bottom of the pile, the one that had haunted me for months, made me sick to my stomach, and even gave me nightmares.  It was a paper that I wrote about a child health program, “Kidcare,” and...

Yesterday was a beautiful Veteran’s Day.   It was pleasantly warm and sunny for a day in mid-November, which helped bring people out to honor the men and women who have served in our Armed Forces.  Everywhere I went, American flags were flying.  All of Fayetteville, North Carolina, was ablaze with red, white and blue.  And plenty of yellow, too.  I saw dozens of big yellow ribbons tied around oak trees.  Fayetteville...

I recently reconnected with an old friend, who invited me to come and visit one evening.  I was delighted to find out that she now runs a horse farm in rural North Carolina.  She started to give me directions over the phone, but when she got to the part about “turn off of the paved road,” my mind blanked.  “Just give me your address,” I said.  “I’ve got a GPS Navigator.  I’ll find you!” I plugged...

My grandma, Mary Rose, passed away last Sunday afternoon in a nursing home, and was laid to rest on the following Tuesday morning.  It was a bittersweet thing to say goodbye to her.  Her health had declined rapidly over the last few months of her life, and she suffered greatly toward the end.  When the call came from my brother that she had finally passed, it was both a relief to know that she was finally at peace,...

I have a kink in my hair that refuses to go away.  It’s a double-rippled cowlick that starts at my left temple and stops somewhere near my ear.  This kink has been with me for as long as I can remember.   In high school and college, I hovered in front of the mirror for hours with my girlfriends.  They tried home remedies for getting rid of the kink, which involved everything from pinking shears to dog shampoo. ...

I don’t know how parents of young children do it.  My brother and his wife have opened my eyes to a very important skill that all parents must possess:  the ability to keep a straight face while delivering discipline in situations that are just downright funny. A while ago, I joined my brother, his wife, and their three children for lunch in a Mexican restaurant.  The hostess showed us to our table and brought us...

Once upon a time, there were three little pigs. Now you may have already heard of these pigs. Others have written about them. Their story has been told before. These are the same three little pigs that once feared the big bad wolf. You may remember that the first little pig built a house of straw. The second little pig built his house of sticks. But the big bad wolf came along and he huffed and he puffed and he blew their...