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Games People Play

Remember when you were a child and you and your family and friends played games? Baby boomer kids managed to enjoy some fun without today’s electronics or complicated computers. We had board games such as Monopoly, Sorry, Clue, checkers, Scrabble and a host of others. Then came Twister which presented a physical challenge that could get a bit embarrassing, but Twister always ended in laughter as participants wound up in a pile of bodies on the living room floor. For some of us, card games were the norm. There were an endless number of card games that required some thought and ...

Putting It All Into Perspective

As I sat down in front of my computer to compose this weekend’s column, there was a young man, a Buffalo Bills football player, fighting for his life after a collision on the field of play. Since that tragic mishap on Monday night football, the league decided to postpone the game between the Bills and Cincinnati Bengals to a later date. The concern and focus was put on the football player, Damar Hamlin. Why these things happen we will never fully understand. But it is what happened after the collision that should have us all thinking. During a time in this country of such ...

Lights Out, Now What?

There is something very humbling about losing one’s power. People in lofty positions in business or politics know what I mean for sure. But what about the loss of the power that turns on the heat and lights in our homes? Coming home the day after Christmas following time with family, we were met with the fact that our power had just gone out and it would be about six hours before it would be restored. The temperature outside was 18 degrees and falling. That wind that made us hold our breath for fear of power outages days earlier was still blowing briskly as we entered our dark ...

Angels Among Us

Angie the Angel has returned. She’s back at the top of our Christmas tree where she belongs. Angie is a plastic cherub illuminated by a single light bulb. She is more than 50 years old, but she’s aged well. She was passed down to my husband from his family who named her Angie probably before he was even born. Angie has survived an assortment of floods in her early years in her then-South Wheeling home and again when the family home on Boggs Run in Benwood was flooded in the early 1970s. Since then, Angie has been packed and unpacked at three of our own homes. She became a special ...

Watching And Waiting

I see him every day. He’s hard not to miss as his white fur coat overflows his large frame. Even in his typical sitting position, the big white dog casts a sizable shadow. He sits in the same spot in a neighbor’s yard, but I’m not sure where he belongs. This past summer he was seen running full force and jumping into another neighbor’s nearby swimming pool. In the winter when most animals curl up and brave the cold, this dog enjoys sitting in the snow for hours. I’m not sure of his breeding, but he is quite an impressive sight as he sits tall in his favorite spot. I ...

Music Memories Are The Best

Sometimes the best gifts are those that simply fall in your lap. We can make lists after lists for Christmas or birthdays or other special occasions in the hope of giving and receiving the perfect present. However, the unexpected, the “I never thought of that” gift simply just happens sometimes. I received such a gift, actually a number of such gifts, recently that made me smile. A friend, someone nearly 20 years younger than me, offered my husband and I a large box of unwanted old record albums he had acquired. Since I am a great fan of the “oldies,” I jumped at the chance ...