An old friend of mine likes to joke that if you go to Mass and the opening song is “Be Not Afraid,” you probably have every right to be fearful. Either the...
Family
When our foster daughter was 2, we had to give her up for Lent. She had lived with us just over a year at the time, and over the course of that year her...
In a recent meeting with all the players in our foster daughter’s case—social workers, attorneys, birth parents, adoption experts, and my husband and me—I was...
Gary Chapman’s bestselling book The 5 Love Languages (Northfield Publishing) is a frequent reference point in our family. Chapman’s premise is that when we...
The books I’ve read to my kids over the years bring back warm memories—everything from Goodnight Moon to Peter Rabbit to The Wind in the Willows. I knew...
On January 1, all over the country, people jump into freezing bodies of water in celebration of a new year. While “polar bear clubs” involve bravado, good cold...
For the times I line up the wheels of my car into the tracks that lead into the car wash tunnel without the guidance of an attendant. The thrill is akin to...
The visiting priest spoke fondly in his homily about his growing up. Then he said, “Aren’t we all so lucky to have such great, loving families?” My husband and...
Three real-life events from the past several months: 1. A raccoon family moves into the soffit of our garage. My vegetarian daughter insists we find a company...
As we honor our dead in this month of all Souls—November 2, so you can mark it at home with your children—let me say that I think we are too afraid of death...
