Health
Stories of healing from physical and mental health-related issues
The Oxford Comma Can Add Years To Your Life
By Shelley Friend, Verlie Edwards and Leanne Ivey According to grammerly.com: “The Oxford (or serial) comma is the final comma in a list of things. For example: Please bring me a pencil, eraser, and notebook. The Oxford comma comes right after the word eraser. Use of...
How Iron Butterflies Handle 2021 Holiday Stress
Is this really “the most wonderful time of the year?” Studies show that 60-70% of people experience some sort of stress during the holidays. With all the changes over the past few years, odds are you know what we are talking about. Don’t let these stressors take away...
Make All Your Wishes Come True with WOOP
WOOP is a scientifically-based process to help people make their wishes come true. WOOP is an acronym for four steps in Dr. Gabriele Oettingen’s model. It stands for Wish, Outcome, Obstacle and Plan. According to her website WOOPmylife.org, it only takes 5-10 minutes...
Life Goes Up and Life Goes Down But Life Can Come Up Again
Life goes up, life goes down, but life can come up again! I have relatively little family left with none living close by and can count my best friends on one hand (they are truly gifts from God). After working with the public by phone or in person throughout my entire...
A Survivor’s Wife Remembers 9-11
As told to her friends Verlie McAlister Edwards and Leanne Kinsey Ivey Editor’s note: Twenty years after terrorists flew American Airlines flight 77 into the Pentagon, Mel Birdwell, the wife of Lt. Col. (Ret.) Brian Birdwell, shares her remembrances of the day and the...
Sisters by Choice: Zoomer Sisters
We joined a program promoting healthy eating for weight loss. The rules are: No flour, no sugar, eat only at mealtime, and weighing and measuring your food. It is recommended that you align yourself with other followers for greater success. Members have the ability to...
Piano During The Pandemic
By Mary Groenewoud Hale “Never let the brain idle. ‘An idle mind is the devil’s workshop.’ And the devil’s name is Alzheimer’s.” -George Carlin “How will I keep busy during the coronavirus pandemic?” I thought to myself. ...
More Than I Can Handle
by Staci Bell It has been said many times, to many hurting people, from many well-meaning people, “God won’t give you more than you can handle.” It has even been quoted as Scripture. It’s not in the Bible. Not even close. When I think about my dad walking home from...
Did Someone Say New Normal?
by Edie Weinstein Among the terminology added to the vernacular in the past few months in the face of COVID-19, along with ‘flattening the curve,’ ‘social distancing,’ and ‘essential businesses,’ is ‘new normal’. The first time I heard that phrase was when I was in...
Making Mental Health Matter
By Kimberly Allen As a new mental health legislative advocate, standing at the podium on the steps of the Texas State Capitol at a televised press conference, Kimberly Allen heard herself say, “I’m Kimberly, and I live with bipolar disorder.” After it concluded, she...
Finding Your Iron in Unexpected Places
By: Stacy Armijo What did you do for your 40th birthday? Celebrate with family & friends? Take a trip? Mourn the bygone days of your 30s? I had a great 40th birthday, orchestrated by my husband and entailing perfect portions of family time, friend time and me...
Our Blessing, Our Grace
By Stephanie Schoonover A few months after we married, Andy and I learned our prayers for our family had been answered. I was pregnant and we were ecstatic. Aside from afternoon fatigue my pregnancy seemed to be going smoothly until our 12 -week anatomy scan. We...
Swimming, Floating and Floundering: A Therapist Comes Clean About Her Challenges
By Edie Weinstein My fingers are tip, tap, typing the words that flow through my busy-buzzy brain. Bleary-eyed after a tumultuously dream-filled night....
Letter Written During the Flu Pandemic in 1918 Offers Advice for Today
During this time of unprecedented disruption of our lives due to the global pandemic, many human-interest stories we hear are very positive as people try to offer help to others. However, media outlets continue to report disheartening examples of extreme hoarding and...
Coronavirus Chaos: Let’s Fly Forward Together
Our hearts go out to all people affected by COVID-19. We send butterfly kisses to those who are diagnosed with the virus, their friends and family, and for all affected by the work and school closings and everyone affected by the economic impact of this crisis. People...
I Can Drive Without Glasses!
By Verlie Edwards Everyone experiences milestones throughout their lives. My vision provided several of those milestones. I remember being fitted for my first pair of glasses in the sixth grade. Then, in junior high school I tried to wear contact lenses. It would be...
Perfect Love
By Lucia Hur The story you are about to read is true. I should know. I am not only the author, but I am also the mother who has had to endure what no parent should ever have to endure: the report of your child being involved in a horrific car accident, which...
Strong Woman Hiding
By Terri Ray Going from being a strong woman hiding behind fears to being empowered by grace in strength is like moving from invisible to being transparent. Your fears keep you hidden, but recognition of yourself makes you visible to the world. The subject of this...