We have three men to thank for the classic Christmas movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Philip Van Doren Stern, author of the short story that inspired the movie; Frank Capra, the immigrant who produced the film; Jimmy Stewart, aka George Bailey. Before the release of this perennial favorite, none of them were having a wonderful life. The 1930s and 1940s, the decades in which the short story and the movie first appeared in public, were challenging […]
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Overcome Turmoil
News stories of conflict, chaos, violence, and disruptions assail us seemingly every hour these days. Some of the information is truly alarming. It’s hard to decide how much news to digest, and what to do about what we learn. We’re not wired to live with chronic stress, fear, and anxiety. It takes a toll on our physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. It has a negative impact on our core relationships as well. Yet, we do […]
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Family Are Forever
John Denver has a line in Rocky Mountain High about “going home to a place he’d never been before.” That is what I did a couple of weeks ago, only I went east to Plymouth, MA rather than west to Colorado for a family reunion. I spent Saturday afternoon and evening with distant cousins I’d never before met in person. Knowing we shared at least two ancestors in common gave us a starting place to […]
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Ohio Library Tour – Newark
Ohio has over 250 public library systems. My friend Lisa made a list of them, organized by county. Last weekend we launched our Ohio Library Tour, intending to tour as many of them as time and gas money permit. First up on our Ohio Library Tour was the Licking County Public Library in Newark, a community of 50,000 a short drive east of Columbus. My mother was born in Newark, but we chose the city […]
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The Retired Life
I am often asked how I’m enjoying my retired life. The short answer is, “Very much.” My family tells me I’m flunking retirement as I continue to overstuff the calendar and bemoan that there aren’t more hours allotted to me each week. So many things grab my attention. So limited time to pursue them all. My retired life includes some decades-old habits. One of them is journaling almost every day. It helps me remember how […]
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