Can You Make Your Kids Eat Vegetables?

“I guess I’d better eat my daily weeds.” My mom said that on more than one occasion, letting me know vegetables are not her favorite food. But she always served them to us kids, and somewhere along the way I learned to eat them. And like them. And...

Installment 8: The Corner Trumpet

Fifteen August 1942  After that Charlie and I spent a lot more time together. Teasing the girls out on the Island and spying on Margaret with me under the porch had proven to me that Charlie was all right. And I remembered how he had all of us singing that old hymn...

“Downton Abbey in Chicago.”

Perhaps kindred souls flock together, but practically everyone I know is watching “Downton Abbey,” a period masterpiece from BBC broadcast in the US on PBS’s famous Masterpiece Theater. I do have a few friends who haven’t been bitten by the bug. Yet. And a bunch more...

5 Truths About Weightbearing

“How’s your foot?” These days I get that question before I get a hello. From the neighbors. At church. From friends. At the gym (yes, I’m attempting exercise). Six weeks ago I broke an ankle. These things take time, and there’s not much to rush the process of healing....

Installment 7: The Corner Trumpet

Thirteen August 1942 The next few days were pretty quiet. Folks still came by to see Charlie, but it seemed like all the fussing was over with and I was free to go back to enjoying my summer. Charlie would sit out on the porch or out in the yard and talk to people if...