Once upon a time, in the safe, protected world of my children, the biggest mistake one could make in elementary school was getting a yellow card at school. One day, as my youngest son was entering the classroom, another boy decided he was going to pick him up and carry him around the room. As this...
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Standing in front of her peers, the young lady listened to the beginning notes of the song she would be performing as a solo.  She boldly belted out her opening line and froze.  Her face reddened and she stammered to her director that she started at the wrong spot.  The teacher, not...
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Meeting Sheila Gilbert, first woman president of the National Council of the United States Society of St. Vincent de Paul, was nothing that I expected.  At first glance, this petite, soft-spoken woman blends into the crowd.  That is until she steps up to the podium to speak.   &...
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During my time in the classroom as a teacher, I loved to share stories and parables with my students.  Thanksgiving always lent itself as the perfect occasion to stress reflection on what we have been given in this beautiful country we live in.  Children see this clearly and can enthusias...
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The word turn is on my mind. Turn up the music, turn the page, turn the other cheek, turning 40; it feels as if the word turn is present wherever I look. A turn signal, or lack thereof, took center stage on my drive to work today.   As I was driving my children to school I must admit I became...
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  "I prefer wrinkled families, with wounds, with scars, but that continue going forward because these wounds, these scars, these wrinkles are the fruit of fidelity in a love that was not always easy.  Love isn't easy.  It isn't easy.  No. But the most beautiful thing that a man...
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I loved going to CCD classes as a first-grader.  Our teacher was lovely and played the guitar. We met once a week, read a lesson from a workbook, had a bit of discussion, then were left to run amuck throughout the basement of the church. Oh, and there were cookies.  All was well … u...
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I’ve spent the evening houndwinding.  Thanks to Lisa Hendey, recent keynote speaker at the Gather in Faith women’s conference at St. John the Baptist Parish in Newburgh, I have increased my vocabulary to include this astute term.  Hendey defines houndwinding as the song and da...
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The day I wrote this column, I smiled at approximately 127 people. Many were strangers; a good portion were co-workers; and a handful were my family members.  Each time I smiled, I received a smile in return.  Each day I make an effort to smile as I pass through this world.  This pr...
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I can’t remember if it started while watching Donny and Marie or Sonny and Cher … possibly the Partridge Family … but sometime, while watching the variety shows so popular in the 70’s, my siblings and I decided to start our own family band. We had a split living room: half c...
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