I still remember the first time I laid eyes on her. She was older by more than a decade, and at least two feet shorter. We were introduced by a mutual friend and I was surprised at her lack of response to my friendly smile, but more so by her plainly obvious reluctance to shake my hand. She was awfully quiet during our meeting and kept shooting furtive looks at me. At first, I was puzzled, then very much annoyed. It was our first meeting, for Pete’s sake. What did she hold ag

Today is Memorial Day. But, also it would have been the 100th birthday of President John F. Kennedy, the man who commanded almost sixty years ago, “My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” And with those words, fueled the patriotism of so many. Today, we remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice and did not get to come back home. We honor them and also those who loved them and got their hearts broken in the pro

Food As Medicine. If I told you that by giving up 2 staples in the standard American diet you may be following, you could possibly reduce your risk to more than 50 chronic, disabling, debilitating, life altering diseases, would you do it? My grandma used to tell us, “You want to grow up strong and healthy? Eat what I am putting in front of you! We are what we eat, don’t you know that?” It turns out, she was right. More and more studies are demonstrating that the leading cause

What Do We Do When Our Plan Doesn’t Go According to Plan? As I drove some of my nephews and nieces home after a fun afternoon, I heard my eleven year old niece say from the rear seat, “ I have it all figured out, auntie.” Oh, boy, I thought as I grinned. This particular niece of mine is smart, headstrong, meticulous, charming in spite of her bossiness, a deep thinker, and a young person who wants things her own way and she is not afraid of letting you know it. “What have you

Hail, to every Mother, to every Woman! What does a mother make? Is it the 40 weeks gestation in a woman with the many ailments that befall her? Things such as nausea and vomiting, sometimes so severe she needs to be hospitalized and get a PICC line inserted or a vascular access catheter to feed her the fluids she so desperately needs? Or the long months of back pain, heartburn, indigestion, urinary incontinence, or emotional upheavals when she cries at the drop of a hat or be

Loneliness “You are a single woman. You must be so lonely and feel so empty.” Her words took me by surprise. For many reasons, but I will elaborate in only two. A) those words came from her. A she, a female, a woman, a sister. By uttering them, she was saying what she believes to be true, that only with a man by my side I have value. B) she dared to judge my life without taking the time to get to know me and what I do all day, every day. I stood there and I have to admit, sha

REFLECTIONS This past weekend we had what we call Stake conference at church. We had the opportunity to listen to some of our leaders give uplifting, inspiring messages of faith, hope, love and many more guidelines by which to live fulfilling lives. Since my spirit has been humble by some of the challenges I have been facing lately in my personal life, I was especially grateful for some of the stirrings the Holy Ghost caused in my heart as I listened to some of the messages.