I’d always been my own worst critic, cutting myself no slack, unable to accept compliments, doubting myself constantly. I’d never really thought, “What would I think of a separate and distinct me?”

Being there for your kids’ activities, even the painful ones, demonstrates love and support in ways they will likely always remember.

There’s only so much character-building that can be done before a lack of success just makes perennial losers bitter.

All I knew about the creepy abandoned building was that it was our town’s jail back in the olden days.

Don’t put aside your hopes and dreams. Find ways to accomplish them while you’re young and physically able.

I’d rather never have to say goodbye to daylight saving time. Let’s all agree that it’s best to follow the sun.

It’s must easier to lose one’s resolve on a daily basis than to lose weight. Especially at a certain age and stage of life.

As much effort as it is, the physical housecleaning for company we haven’t seen in a long time is often the easy part.

The Internet has changed how and at what speeds teens and 20-somethings communicate. It’s impossible for their hapless parents to keep up, and it might be cringe for them to try.

A beautiful, dewy spider web, or a stranger’s odd compliment, are examples of small things that can snap us out of self-pity and into grateful reflection, if we let them.

Inspiration for a column idea is one thing, but stretching and refining it into a completed article is quite another.

The service industry may seem obsessed with fulfilling your every whim, but at the end of the vacation week, it’s all about that bottom line.

I can’t help but be alarmed at how drastically life has changed in the past 40 years, thanks to the veritable tidal wave of technology that has swept over the world since 1983.I find it frightening that something we can’t even see has so rapidly changed life as we know it, forever.

I assumed that all military men were “manly” types who tinkered with cars, hooked up stereos, and fixed stuff around the house. Shiver me timbers, was I off course!

A three-person friendship group can be difficult to maintain without someone becoming the third wheel.

Sometimes when you examine similarities and differences of extended family members, you find that it’s all relative.

Sometimes it’s better if we don’t hear that small internal voice that we’ve lived with for so long.

My pride in my family’s service and sacrifices for our country has never wavered. But I worry that I’ve lost my perspective on the true value of military service.